


Unconditionally

by NewHampshireGirl



Series: Unconditionally [2]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Comfort/Angst, F/M, Gen, Romance, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-11
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-03-22 08:47:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 45,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3722647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NewHampshireGirl/pseuds/NewHampshireGirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony and McGee find that unconditional love and friendship can come from all different places as the team struggles with the changes in their lives as well as closing the book on a four year old cold case.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Reaching Out

**Author's Note:**

> This is the second part of my "Unconditionally" Series. Hope you enjoy!

Benham Parsa's latest attack had left a somber mood around NCIS. Tony DiNozzo noticed it right away when he stepped off the elevator that bitterly cold morning, coffee cup clutched in his right hand, backpack slung over his left shoulder.

Despite the palpable tension in the air, there was still work to be done, and he was not surprised to find a stack of files on his desk. He flipped the first one open and instantly a groan left his lips and filled the bullpen.

"What's the matter, DiNozzo? Don't feel like doing supply forms today?" Gibbs said, softly from his desk.

"Not particularly," Tony sighed as he slipped off his coat. He stored his gear and plopped down into his chair. "Any chance we'll get the Bat Signal?"

Gibbs shook his head. "Nope. McGee's still out on leave and Bishop's at the NSA to be debriefed about the Parsa case—it's just you and me kid."

Tony couldn't help the small grin that cracked his face thanks to the nostalgic tone to the lead agent's voice. There had been a time when it had just been the two of them, and, for the most part, it had gone smoothly. He'd lost count of how many agents rotated in and out of the team those first few months that he was with NCIS. In fact, none of them lasted for long and just didn't fit. Until Kate had come along and demanded to be apart of their investigation on Air Force One—after that Tony wasn't surprised that his boss had offered her a job. "Kind of like old times, eh boss?"

"Yeah. Just don't regress," Gibbs snapped, "We've all spent years working on you. I don't want to have to start slapping you again."

"No worries, boss," Tony said, clicking his pen to life to get working, "Don't plan on regressing. All about moving forward now."

Gibbs eyed his SFA across the squad room. Even from his seat Tony could tell that he had the boss' interests peaked. "You gunning for my job, DiNozzo?"

Tony laughed, nervously. "No, boss. I'm not ready for it yet. I think I still have a lot to learn."

It didn't surprise Gibbs that after all these years that Tony still didn't have the self-confidence to lead. Perhaps Gibbs hadn't been the best foster for that self-confidence. He knew that he was going to have to do better. But after this brief exchange they fell into a comfortable, familiar silence. In that time Tony got a lot of work done. It was true that he did miss some of the friendly chatting with Bishop—she hated silence, especially awkward silence he was learning. It was also true that he missed having McGee around, but he understood that his probie had to be with Delilah in her difficult time of adjusting to being paralyzed. Working in silence was peanuts compared to the mountains that she was facing.

"Agent Gibbs," Leon Vance's tense voice broke the pair's concentration as well as the silence, "A word with you?"

Tony's green eyes followed his boss out of the bullpen and then up the stairs towards the Director's office. His gut tightened. Something was up. Perhaps, this awful nightmare that was Parsa was finally coming to an end, maybe Homeland had found him and dealt with him. _Like they dealt with Bodnar,_ a snarky retort came back in his head.

_Well, now that wasn't very fair, now was it,_ Tony argued with him self. _No one knew the CIA's endgame. Damn spies._

He briefly began to wonder if perhaps Bishop was doing more at the NSA than just debriefing them about their involvement in the Parsa case. After all, this bore a striking resemblance to what they had been faced with last year—a manhunt for a killer, terrorist. And no matter how many times Tom Morrow had shown up here, demanding that NCIS back off and let Homeland deal with it—Ziva had gone behind their backs, with Vance and Gibbs' silent blessing apparently—and Tony, well, he'd just followed along because he foolishly believed that they were not going to get caught. When his badge had been reinstated he'd prayed that they had all learned _something_ from their horrendous spring.

Tony glanced at the empty bullpen. Parsa had been personal from the get-go. He'd targeted each member of the team, coming after Gibbs and Tony—McGee had been scooped up by the FBI before he'd been reached, and Ziva's Mossad's skills had saved her in Israel. Now, not only did Parsa have Clayton Jarvis on his list of victims with personal connections to the team and NCIS, but he had Delilah Fielding.

All the pent of up frustrations he felt regarding this case began to surface. He'd done his best to take the advise of his men's group, sometimes it was easier said than done, but one guy, he'd offered up some of the most simplest of advice— _reach out more when you need it._

Just a few nights ago Tony had reached out, to Ziva. She had not answered the phone but he'd left her a message that had been freeing in a way. Now, he found himself needing to reach out in a different way. As the urge rushed to the surface, Gibbs rushed back into the bullpen. "Grab your gear."

"Huh? I thought we were off rotation?"

"Thought wrong—both of us did."

Confused, Tony dug out his weapon and badge, threw his coat back on and snatched up his backpack. "So, what's the case?"

Gibbs, ice blue eyes cold, solemn, simply said, "Metro pulled Jennifer Evans' body from the Potomac this morning."

Tony's shoulders tensed. "Are they sure?"

"Oh yeah. Found her with her dog tags. Metro called us immediately."

_Son of a bitch,_ Tony thought, furiously. "Eight months, boss—we worked that case for eight months and got _nothing._ "

Gibbs simply nodded. When the young woman had turned up missing the team had turned over every stone looking for her, but yielded no results. It was like she had disappeared off the face of the Earth. The only clue they had was a fuzzy video of her leaving a bar with a unidentified man. Probably the one who had killed her. Everyone had his or her theories of course as to what happened and in the end the team had just resolved to the fact that perhaps Evans had just wanted to start over.

Apparently that wasn't the case.

Tony dug the keys out for the sedan and stalked towards the elevator. Gibbs knew this case had hit Tony hard. No one liked to inform a family that they did not know what happened to their loved one. And Gibbs had not been present when Tony and Ziva went to visit the Evans' family to let them know that the case went cold. It was months later, and Ziva that had told Gibbs that the mother had lashed out at Tony, screaming and yelling and accusing of him of not doing his job. She had even struck him when Tony tried to offer his condolences. It was not going to be a pleasant reunion by far.

Still, as the two agents made their way to the car and sped off towards the crime scene, they had a job and no one said it was glamorous, or glorious. Sometimes it was downright cruel and unfair.

His own team was living testament to this. Right now, McGee was off helping Delilah cope with her condition all because they had failed at their job. Tony clutched the steering wheel tightly. Failed. Again. How many more failures could he possibly take before everything fell apart? Before _he_ fell apart?

"DiNozzo," Gibbs chided him softly, "I didn't let you drive so you could kill us. Watch the road."

"Sorry, boss," Tony said, snapping back to life and directing the sedan back into their lane of traffic.

"Jennifer wasn't your fault, DiNozzo."

"Doesn't matter. I should have looked harder, deeper. Her killer has been walking free for four years while she's been rotting at the bottom of the river."

Gibbs shifted in his seat. " _We_ should have looked harder, DiNozzo. Team effort, remember?"

Tony pressed down harder on the gas. The sedan shot forward at an alarming pace. _Team effort my ass. You should practice what you preach, boss. You of all people shut us out the most,_ he accused, silently. He let out a frustrated breath of air. "You weren't there when Mrs. Evans accused me of not doing my job—you didn't see her, you didn't have to listen to her—you didn't have to be stripped down to nothing. And what hurt the most was, she was right. I didn't do my job. I didn't find Jennifer. I didn't find who killed her. I let them down."

Sometimes it amazed Gibbs how much Tony and Tim could sound alike but be so different. _Parsa was my job._ He sighed and reached out, giving Tony's shoulder a squeeze. "I should have been there with you, DiNozzo. While Ziva was a good partner to you, we both know that she was always very sensitive towards you." He saw his SFA's shoulders tense even more and wondered if he had perhaps touched on another sore spot. "She say something to you after Mrs. Evans outburst?"

"Doesn't matter now, boss, Ziva's gone," Tony said quietly. "Let's just sweep it under the rug and be done with it."

"Is that what your men's health group would say? Sweep it under the rug and forget about it?"

"No. But it's kind of hard to confront the person on it when she isn't here."

And that answered his question. Gibbs knew that Tony had been bothered by the case going cold. He just always figured that it was because justice had not been served. It was starting to look like that there was more underneath the surface. "Talk."

Tony took a deep breath and shook his head to clear his thoughts. The Evans' case had strained all of their relationships. They had been at each other's throats. In the aftermath of Mrs. Evans outburst at him in her living room, Tony had already been beaten down. On the car ride back to the office Ziva had lit into him and he'd just silently taken it. After all, she was the one that was still dealing with what had happened to her in Somalia. It wasn't _her_ fault that she was this angry because she knew that if NCIS had not been looking for her she would have died out there. "She told me I was giving up, that I gave up—a lot. I gave up Rota, I gave up on Jeanne—Wendy. It didn't matter that for a whole summer I never _gave up_ looking for Saleem to avenge her death. It just…it just hurt."

Gibbs cursed. Lord, that had been a tricky time. They had just rescued Ziva from Somalia when Jennifer Evans had gone missing and they had worked around the clock for several days, all leads exhausted, but kept the case open. From time to time something else would pop up and the team would investigate, leading to more dead ends. It was obvious that a missing woman hit close to home for Ziva. Wasn't she missing when they had rescued her in Africa?

"Like I said, it doesn't matter now," Tony quipped, pulling the car into a space at the docks. He shut it down and got out, effectively ending the conversation.

"Hey," Gibbs said, getting out of the car. He slammed his door shut. "It does matter and you can make it right now."

Tony nodded, pain clearly etched in his green eyes. He grabbed his gear, slipping his NCIS cap on over his messy hair. Silently he took in the scene before him. Metro had roped off the area with crime scene tape, red and blue lights flashed and bounced off the concrete walls of the warehouse buildings surrounding this part of the docks and a young, twenty-something cop stood watch. Some days he really had to wrack his brain to remember what it was like being a young cop. So eager and wanting to rid the whole world of bad guys—it was the cases like Jennifer Evans that brought young cops crashing back to reality.

Gibbs took the lead, keeping a watchful eye on his senior field agent. He pulled out his credentials and showed them to the young cop. "NCIS, Special Agents Gibbs and DiNozzo. Metro says you found a body that belongs to us?"

"Yeah. Divers pulled her remains about an hour ago," the rookie cop said, gesturing over his shoulder. "Rumor has it that she's been missing for a long time."

"Four years," Tony snapped. "Can we get through?"

"Uh…sure," the young man said, lifting the tape. "You'll find Detective Sportelli over there."

Tony and Gibbs walked a brisk pace, stride for stride towards the veteran detective. Sportelli was waiting for them, arms crossed, eyes somber. On a black tarp in the middle of the dock there were the bones of human remains, dog tags clearly hanging around her neck. DNA was going to have to be done to prove it, but Tony knew in his gut that this was Jennifer. Four years of wondering if he had missed something coming to and end. And just days after Parsa had blown everything apart at the Conrad gala. When it rained, it poured.

Gibbs nodded at the detective. "What have you got for me, Sportelli?"

"Female human remains," Sportelli said in his gruff voice. "Divers found her at the bottom of the river, weights around her ankles. Killer wanted to make sure she wasn't found."

"So, how did you find her?" Gibbs questioned, snapping on some latex gloves. "Looking for another body?"

"Inmate. Dying of lung cancer. Went to a confessional with a priest and told the priest about killing Jennifer Evans," Sportelli replied. "Priest called us."

Tony swallowed the bile in his throat. "What was he in for?" he asked, fearing the answer. If it was some dumb misdemeanor he was going to lose it.

Sportelli turned towards him and shook his head, "Murdering his brother. Guy had a violent streak in him."

"Well, at least then, he was in jail with the proper punishment," the familiar voice of the NCIS ME said. "Some justice was served for this poor girl."

"Ducky how long until we can get DNA confirmation that this is Jennifer Evans?" Gibbs asked, eyeing his old friend. "I'd like to get some closure for her family."

"Twenty-four hours," Ducky replied, gazing down at the body. "Mister Palmer, get the gurney so we can get Miss Evans home."

As Tony watched Ducky and Jimmy work that urge to reach out crept up again. Last time they had been working this case he had kept everything inside, like he always did, and it had cost him, it had strained his relationship with Ziva, maybe to the point of no return—he may never be certain when that had happened exactly, but, he did know that this case had changed them, in so many ways. This time, he didn't want to be left hurting and wondering. This time, he was going to find someone to lean on.


	2. News

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay. This chapter introduces the OFC. Enjoy!

"Hey, Tim, NCIS is on the news," Delilah said, breaking Timothy McGee's concentration on his book.  
  
"What happened?" Tim asked, dreading the answer. As far as he knew Parsa was still out there, still targeting NCIS and those that he cared about. He couldn't handle someone else in his life getting hurt or killed right now. "Is it Parsa again?"  
  
Delilah shook her head. She was sitting up in her bed, some color had returned to her cheeks in the last few days and she had been able to hold down solid food. They had spent most of the time in her room talking or watching television together. Now that the doctors had held back on her pain medications she was not sleeping as much and for a few brief seconds things seemed to be getting back to normal. Until she tried to move her legs and couldn't. "Something about a four year old cold case."  
  
Tim looked up at the television screen and watched as the headline flashed—Metro Police receive tip about missing marine, pull remains from the Potomac. NCIS taking over investigation. The reporter was talking about how NCIS was not releasing the young woman's name at this time, until the proper identification and contact of family members had been made, but Tim didn't need to know all that stuff. He already knew. Jennifer Evans. Her name had plagued them for the last four years. It had plagued Tony, who, if he remembered had taking quite the tongue lashing when he had gone to inform the Evans family that the case was cold and that NCIS was shelving the investigation for now.  
  
"Do you know the case?" Delilah asked.  
  
"Y-yeah," Tim stuttered. "We worked…we worked it."  
  
"So…Tony and Gibbs must be working on it?"  
  
"Yeah. Bishop was scheduled to be at the NSA this week debriefing about Parsa."  
  
Delilah bit down on her lip. She could see the conflict in Tim's eyes. He wanted to be at NCIS working the case, but at the same time he wanted to stay with her. She wasn't sure what to say or do at this point. Would it be considered incredibly selfish if she asked him to stay? Her parents had not gone home yet and her mother was promising to stay until she was done rehab and all settled with her wheelchair and accommodations at home. "Tim…you should go."  
  
Tim looked at her, eyes wide. "Director Vance gave me two weeks leave time. If they need me they'll call."  
  
"Please. No they won't. Even I know that."  
  
He knew she had a point. Tony and Gibbs would leave him to tend to his personal matters. That didn't stop the itch he was feeling for getting out of that chair and going down to NCIS to see if he could help. The Evans' case might not have haunted him like it had Tony but he still wanted to help. It was his job and quite frankly he was tired of failing at his job the last week or so. "I'll check in later," he promised. "Right now they probably don't have much. There wasn't much in the original case. Just a missing persons report and grainy video footage of our victim leaving a bar with a man."  
  
She frowned at him, understanding flashing in her eyes. She might not be a federal agent but she knew how it felt when the trail went cold. "There was no case before you even got there."  
  
"Pretty much. It's…it's been bugging us for four years."  
  
"There was nothing much you could do with the little evidence you had."  
  
"Didn't stop her mother from lashing out at us, speaking out against NCIS. Poor Tony took the brunt of it."  
  
She stole a glance at the television screen again. The news had already moved on to the next story but she was sure once NCIS got a DNA match on the remains and notified the next of kin, they'd be making another appearance. Delilah sighed and fixed her blankets. "Perks of the job," she said sarcastically.  
  
Tim reached out and grabbed a hold of her hand. All he did was give it a squeeze, but it was all she needed. It was true she had been down on herself since the bombing. And she had blamed herself for not realizing what Parsa's plan was from the beginning. After going through the same emotions, Tim had told her that none of them had seen it coming until it was too late. Parsa wasn't going to be able to hide out forever, sooner or later some agency was going to catch up to him. "Hungry? I was thinking of going down to the cafeteria to get some coffee."  
  
Delilah shook her head. "No, thank you. The nurses are probably going to be bringing in my lunch soon."  
  
"Alright," he said, getting up and stretching his tired, aching muscles. As he did so he wasn't surprised to see Delilah drift off to sleep.  
  
He knew that he now had some time to check in with his team back at NCIS. The painkillers that Delilah had been allotted had finally set in and she'd given into the obvious exhaustion from her physical therapy session that morning. Tim pulled out his cell phone and dialed the number to Tony's desk. It went to voicemail. He tried Tony's cell phone—again straight to voicemail.  
  
Tim frowned. Why was Tony breaking Rule Three? Especially now when he was going to be the only one to give him information on the case? Tim knew that Gibbs wouldn't offer up information for him. He'd tell Tim that they were handling it and that he needed to be with Delilah. So, Tim did the next most logical choice of action—he called Abby.  
  
"I guess you heard that Jennifer Evans was found," Abby answered, sounding melancholy.  
  
"Yeah. I'm trying to get in touch with Tony," Tim replied, stepping out of Delilah's hospital room. H slid the door shut. "He isn't answering. Can you trace his cell?"  
  
"Sure…I guess. He's probably on lunch," Abby replied. Tim could hear her typing on her keyboard. "He's at Café Itlaiano."  
  
Tim thanked her and hung up. Digging out his bus card, the federal agent made his way down to the lobby and to the city bus. Hopefully he could catch Tony at the restaurant before he left. Four years ago Tim had not been very supportive of Tony when he'd been torn apart by Mrs. Evans—this time he wasn't going to make that mistake. Tony had been there for him the last week, cooking for him, coming to the hospital to sit with him—offering to take him back to his apartment to play video games—it was time that he returned the favor.

* * *

  
  
The small, cozy Italian café that Tony loved to frequent for lunch was quiet that afternoon. And for this he was happy. The chatter of the few diners that were inside had a calming effect and less patrons waiting for a table meant that Tony could spend as much time as he could with the pretty companion at his side. Right now she was carefully picking out the black olives from her salad and was so hyper focused on that he wasn't sure that she noticed they had stopped talking.  
  
Which was all right in his eyes at the moment. It gave him the opportunity to just study her. He had already known that she was beautiful when he'd gotten her number back in November, but since he didn't work up the courage to call her until January, well, he realized that she was prettier than he recalled. It had been her blue eyes that had caught his attention back in the fall. They were the bluest he had ever seen, warm and friendly, and right now, he was enjoying the way they squinted in deep thought while she worked to rid her salad of the offensive little black fruits.  
  
"I wasn't aware that olive removal was such serious work," Tony teased between bites of his own lunch.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Leah," Tony chuckled, "You've been working on taking those olives out of your salad for ten minutes and haven't said a word."  
  
Her eyes widened for a moment and she blushed slightly. "Sorry. I tend to hyper focus on the task at hand—in this case, getting rid of olives."  
  
He leaned over and kissed her cheek softly. "Don't apologize. It's cute."  
  
"Cute? Really?"  
  
"Yes, really. No one ever told you that it's cute when your forehead crinkles into deep thought, and you squint your eyes?"  
  
"My mom says it's not very attractive."  
  
Tony reached for her hand and laced his fingers through hers. Slowly he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. He watched as the small smile spread across her face, easing away the creases that had formed while she had been so focused on her salad just a few seconds before. He'd never thought he'd like small gestures of love like this ever again, especially after Jeanne, but he found that he did like it when she smiled at him, when her cheeks flushed slightly when he kissed her lightly on them. In a short period of time people would say that he had changed, but the truth was he had just revealed himself more. "Well," he finally said, breaking the silence, smiling, "Your mom is wrong—it is attractive."  
  
Leah glanced at him coyly. "Can I ask you a question?"  
  
He nodded his head. "Of course."  
  
"Am I going to get an honest answer, Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo?"  
  
"I'll do my best but keep in mind, I make no promises."  
  
She grinned, softly, but then her eyes became serious. "Why did you wait so long to call me?"  
  
He felt his shoulders getting tense. He had a couple of options here. He could lie to her, tell her that it was work related—that there just had not been time—which, in reality that wasn't so far from the truth. Of course, lying to her was not the way they should be starting this relationship. Tony took a deep breath and locked his eyes on her. "I wasn't sure if I was ready yet to move on, to start a new relationship when I wasn't sure where the so-called last one stood."  
  
"So called?"  
  
"Long story, another day perhaps."  
  
"Okay. Are you happy you called?"  
  
Tony cracked a small smile, tucked a stray piece of her hair behind her ear and let his fingers stroke the soft locks. "Yeah," he whispered. "I am."  
  
Leah adverted her eyes for a moment, slightly blushing and replied, "I'm glad you called too."  
  
Never had such a simple statement made him feel so good about himself. Ok, well, he could think of a few. When his father finally said after all these years that he was proud of him or when Gibbs had told him that he'd trust him anytime—those had been amazing confidence boasters. Hearing Leah say that she was happy that he'd called her, well, it quieted some of the doubts in his mind that he'd made the wrong decision.  
  
Tony let his fingers idly play with the ends of her ponytail. She smiled at him and went back to picking out the olives in her salad. He was more than content to sit there and watch her. The normalcy of their relationship was comforting and he needed a lot of comforting right now. First Parsa's attack, leaving Delilah wounded and others dead—the fact that the sociopath was still on the run. Now, he had the pleasant task of going to inform the Evans family that Jennifer was dead and that the man who had killed her had led the police right to her body and was going to die now any day of cancer. Somehow, Tony didn't think the family, especially Mrs. Evans, was going to feel that this was any kind of justice for their daughter.  
  
He tended to agree with them.  
  
With a glance at his watch, he realized that he didn't have a lot of time left and waved the waiter over to give them their check. He fished out his credit card to pay, letting go of Leah's hand for the first time in a while, and sighed. "Duty calls."  
  
"It's okay. I have a whole afternoon of meetings ahead of me."  
  
_I'd rather be doing that then working this damn cold case_ , Tony thought as he signed for the bill. _At least in a meeting I might not have to face the demons of my past._ Sighing, Tony realized he could no longer drag this lunch out so the two stood up. He helped Leah into her wool jacket and then slipped on his own. They wove their way through the small restaurant, holding hands, and made their way outside. It was bitterly cold and Tony pulled Leah closer to him, using their linked hands to guide him. He rubbed his own hands over her upper arms, trying to draw warmth to them and he felt her arms snake their way around his waist.  
  
She turned her face up towards his and he realized how incredibly close she was to him. _Wow. I really, really, really want to kiss her._ A knowing smile crossed her face for a moment and she was about to say something when he brought a finger to her lips to silence her. Their eyes locked and he was about to give into that little voice in his head telling him to kiss her when a familiar, surprised voice sputtered, "Tony?"  
  
Tony pulled back and peered into the sun to see a figure standing there. He couldn't make out the face but he knew who it was. "McGee? What are you doing here?"  
  



	3. I Want to Help

McGee stood there not sure what to say. When he'd pulled up at the restaurant he had been expecting Tony to be eating alone or perhaps with Ducky—not with a beautiful girl wrapped in his arms. When had Tony started dating?  
  
"Hey, McGee," Tony said, firmly stepping towards him, concern in his eyes, "What are you doing here? Something wrong?"  
  
"No…" McGee said with a shake of his head. He nervously glanced at the young woman standing behind Tony. "S-sorry, I heard about the case on the news."  
  
Tony sighed, heavily and turned his green eyes up to the sky for a moment. Of course he had seen the report on the news and of course he'd track down Tony because, well, he knew that Gibbs wasn't going to give him any information on the case or let him come back to work. He'd probably called Abby and had her trace his cell phone. Tony didn't want to contact McGee but he should have known that the younger agent was not going to leave it alone. He was smart. He'd put the pieces together and realized that the Evans' case was finally coming to a close. _Damn, this isn't what any of us needed right now._ He let out a slow breath and turned towards his lunch companion. "Sorry, where are my manners? I didn't introduce you."  
  
McGee was still slightly stunned that Tony had been on a lunch date—it had been weeks, months even that Tony had talked about a date. Never-the-less he smiled, friendly and warmly at her while his partner introduced them. "So, um how did you two meet?" he asked, shaking her hand.  
  
"Coffee shop," Leah answered.  
  
"Well, that explains why you were late some days," McGee cracked seriously.  
  
Tony laughed and scratched behind his ear. "Yeah. Well, some days I would wait for her to show up just to say hi to her."  
  
Leah's face broke into a shy smile. "It took him long enough to call."  
  
McGee watched as Tony smiled at her, letting his eyes run over her face and the younger man wasn't sure what to make of the scene. Tony was looking at this woman differently than he looked at all other women. There was a soft, warm look and if McGee didn't know any better he'd venture to say that perhaps, Tony was allowing himself to try falling in love again. _Tony? In love? I'm not sure I'd ever thought I see it._  
  
But, there he was, opening Leah's car door for her, kissing her tenderly and telling her to drive safely. Both men stood on the sidewalk and watched as the Volkswagon Jetta drove off into the traffic.  
  
"So, um…" McGee began to say now that Leah was gone.  
  
"Just a week or so," Tony answered the unspoken question.  
  
"She seems nice."  
  
"She is."  
  
McGee shuffled his feet and stuffed is hands into his pockets. He was suddenly aware at how cold it was outside. "I heard about the case on the news. It's Jennifer, isn't it?"  
  
Tony nodded his head, slowly. "Yes. A dying inmate confessed to a priest that he killed her and lead Metro to her body. Sportelli called us. Ducky is doing the autopsy and Abby is running the DNA to get a positive identification. Gibbs and I are just waiting for that so we can go inform the Evans' family."  
  
"I could go with you."  
  
"What about Delilah?"  
  
McGee shrugged his shoulders. "She's asleep right now and she doesn't have another rehab session until later tonight. They don't want to push her too much and the wheelchair people aren't coming until next week. I can work for a bit." I need to work this case, come on, Tony, you understand.  
  
Tony sighed and fished out the keys to the Dodge. "Listen, McGee, I get it. This case hit all of us hard. But right now you have personal matters that are more important than going to inform a family that their daughter is dead. Besides, the Evans', they aren't the most inviting couple. Best to let Gibbs and I handle it."  
  
"DiNozzo, I don't need you or Gibbs to protect me."  
  
"Not trying to protect you, Tim. You've just got a lot on your plate right now."  
  
"I just…I want to help."  
  
"You want to help?" Tony questioned digging something out of his pocket. McGee nodded and the SFA continued, "Okay then. This is a list of three places I am considering taking Leah to for dinner tomorrow night. Go do your computer thing—at the hospital—and come up with the best option got it?"  
  
McGee took the paper from his hand and frowned. Finding Tony a nice place to eat for his date was not what he had in mind when it came to helping out. But, Tony was looking at him earnestly, seeming to understand his need to just do something. "Okay. I can do that. You'll keep updated on the case?"  
  
Tony smiled, softly. "Yeah. Of course."  
  
"All right. Thanks, Tony. You won't…you won't tell Gibbs?"  
  
"Nope. Secret is safe with me."  
  
McGee nodded and turned on his heel, glancing back once at his partner as the older man got into the Dodge and drove off. With a sigh he got into his own car and did the same.

* * *

  
Abigail Sciuto, mistress of the dark as Tony referred to her from time to time, was standing at her table when Tony arrived. She swung her tall frame about on one heel and grinned at him. "You sir, are late."  
  
Tony frowned and tried to glare at her, but the truth was his lunch date had gone so well he didn't have it in him to glare. "Ran into McGee after lunch. I had to give him something to do or he was going to come back to NCIS with me and well, Gibbs would probably just drag his ass back to the hospital."  
  
"You gave him work? There isn't much to do on this case, Tony," Abby pouted. "Killer confessed and any forensic evidence has been washed away by the river."  
  
"No. I didn't give him work for the case. He's on leave, remember?"  
  
"Oh. So what did you give him to do?"  
  
"Find me a good restaurant for my date Friday night."  
  
Abby blinked her pale green eyes for a second, slight disbelief reflecting them and then her face broke into a wide smile. "So that's why you were late! You met someone!" She reared back and punched him playfully on the arm. "I knew it! Palmer and I placed bets."  
  
Tony rubbed his bicep and now really glared. "Ouch, that hurt."  
  
"Sorry. I'm just…I'm happy, okay!"  
  
"Abby, it's only been like two dates—a coffee one on Monday and lunch today. I wouldn't classify that as serious."  
  
She shook her head, jet-black pigtails bouncing off her shoulders. "Maybe not for most people but for you this is big! Two dates in a week! Wait? It's with the same girl right, not two different ones?"  
  
He grinned coyly at her. "Yes. It's the same girl."  
  
"I want to hear all about her—but first—we have work to do."  
  
"Thought you said there wasn't any forensic evidence?"  
  
Abby frowned and entered a few keystrokes on her computer. A grainy close up of the guy leaving the bar with Jennifer Evans the night she disappeared showed up on the screen. "I was able to do a partial facial recognition match on this photo with our suspect's mug shot taken when he was arrested for killing his brother." She typed some more keystrokes again and a mug shot of a lanky, pale, blonde forty something man showed up. "Meet Doug Whitely. I was only able to match the pictures to about a fifty-five percent match. It would never hold up in court."  
  
Tony sighed, heavily and stared at the face of the killer they'd had a photo of for years. "Yeah. Well, it isn't going to court. Guess we're lucky."  
  
"Yeah but we don't have any evidence to actually tie him to the murder," Abby pointed out.  
  
"So, he just confessed to doing it?" Tony snarked, feeling the tension building up inside his already tired muscles. "Sounds ridiculous to me."  
  
"I know but…well…I want to give her family more than we think we have the guy because he confessed—I want to give them solid evidence."  
  
"Abs, with cold cases sometimes we don't have solid evidence."  
  
She looked at him sadly. "This case ate you alive Tony. I don't want that to happen again."  
  
He offered her a pleasant smile. "Not going to happen this time, Abs. I'm a different person now, remember?"  
  
Yes of course, the new and improved Tony—the one that was opening up more to people, the one that was being more sensitive to those around him—the one that had made a casserole for McGee last week to cheer him up. Abby knew he was different since returning from Israel but she wasn't sure if he was strong enough to handle all this again. It had been a hard case for him. And she hated to see him torn apart. She leveled a concern look on him.  
  
Tony gently took her by the shoulders and smiled at her again. "Abs. I'll be fine. Really."  
  
"Okay," Abby said, not really sure she believed it. "Now. Tell me all about this girl."  
  
"No time for that, Abs," Gibbs interrupted, poking his head in. "Metro's giving us permission to interview Doug Whitely. I need DiNozzo."  
  
The SFA let go of her, his pleasant smile vanishing as he turned on his heel and followed behind Gibbs. Abby nervously bit down on her lip. Tony could tell her all he wanted it was not going to be like last time but it certainly felt just like last time. And this had her deeply concerned.  
  
Behind her she heard the elevator ding and signal the arrival of someone new.  
  
"Do you have that DNA result back yet, Abby?" Jimmy Palmer asked. He had ducked into the lab with a bit of a bored look on his face. "Doctor Mallard is almost done his report."  
  
"DNA won't be back for a few more hours," Abby said, biting the inside of her cheek.  
  
Jimmy immediately noticed the nervous look in her eyes. "Everything okay?"  
  
Abby heaved a huge sigh. "I'm worried about Tony. We both know that Mrs. Evans ripped him apart the last time he saw her. I think he was really messed up after that, you know, he went crazy looking for Dana Hutton. He was obsessed with her, finding her and he took a lot of unnecessary risks. I'm not sure what he'll do this time. He tells me he's fine but we all know that to take that at face value when it comes to Tony."  
  
The young assistant nodded his head. Jimmy probably knew more about Tony's troubles after Jennifer Evans disappeared than anyone else on the team. Back then he had found it difficult to open up to them. He'd felt distanced from Gibbs, even more closed off from Ziva and as much as McGee and Abby tried to listen to him, sometimes they could come off cruel. Tony had spent a lot of time with Jimmy venting his frustrations about the Evans' case—they'd gone out for a drink the night that Mrs. Evans had basically told him he sucked at his job. Boy, had Tony taken that personally and to heart. "We just all need some closure from this case, Abby. Maybe…identifying her remains will give Tony that closure."  
  
"I hope so, Jimmy," Abby said, softly. "We've been through a lot this year."  
  
"Not all of it bad," Jimmy replied in his usual optimistic view. "Breena and I are going to adopt, McGee has Delilah, and we helped those sick kids."  
  
Abby felt slightly better, but she was still worried about Tony. He'd been such a constant in her life the last thirteen years, even when she hadn't been the nicest person to him—the big brother who always looked out for her. She also knew that Jimmy was right. Besides, things could always be much worse. What if that shot had hit Tony in his apartment? What if the blast had killed Delilah? Or Parsa had caught up to Gibbs in Iran? She knew that normally she didn't believe in luck, this year, however, luck seemed to be on their side for just a bit.  
  
Jimmy watched as a grin crossed her face suddenly. "What?"  
  
"Palmer…" she started, "you'll never guess where Tony was for lunch."  
  



	4. Rot In Hell

Gibbs and Tony were lead through the sterile walls of the hospital towards the terminal wing by a stocky guard. Upon arrival they had been told that Doug Whitely was on his deathbed, probably wouldn't make the night.  
  
Tony felt incredibly cheated. He'd always envisioned arresting Jennifer's killer and then witnessing that killer's execution. Instead, the man was going to die doped up on morphine and from natural causes. "Welcoming place," he mumbled to Gibbs as they walked briskly along.  
  
"Here we go," the guard announced, stopping in front of a Metro police officer standing guard outside a door. "NCIS agents Gibbs and DiNozzo."  
  
"Oh yeah, Detective Sportelli said you'd be stopping by," the officer said. "So, the bastard really killed her huh? Remember that case on the news. Shame."  
  
_Shame? That's all he has to say?_ Tony fumed. He opened his mouth to say something but Gibbs grabbed him by the arm to silence him and quietly asked if they could see the prisoner.  
  
The officer stepped aside and let them into the room. The ashen, frail, thinning body of Doug Whitely was laying amongst stark white pillows and sheets. His eyes were half closed, gazing at a television screen. Anyone could clearly see that the man was in the midst of a pain killer induced haze. Once again Tony felt a rage boil underneath the surface. He was too comfortable looking. He should be suffering. All the stuff he had been working on with the men's group, about being more sensitive and less judgmental went out the window.  
  
Doug Whitely did not deserve his sensitivity or compassion. Tony would leave those things to people that had earned it. Like McGee that right now needed a casserole baked for him or something to search for on the internet because in the end, McGee would return the favor. Men like Whitely would just stab him in the back and then dump his body in the river.  
  
Gibbs pulled a chair up towards the bed. The scraping noise caught Whitely's attention and he turned his eyes towards the two federal agents. "Hi, Doug. I'm Special Agent Gibbs, this is Special Agent DiNozzo, NCIS. Mind if we chat?"  
  
"Don't have a lot to say," Whitely rasped turning back towards the television.  
  
"Oh sure you do," Gibbs replied. "You talked to the priest."  
  
"I'm a dying man. Most dying men ask to speak to a priest."  
  
"Suppose they do. Most of them don't confess to killing though."  
  
Whitely glared at Gibbs under his drug-induced haze. "Want a chance to get into Heaven, Agent Gibbs."  
  
Tony wanted to throttle him. "What makes you think you even deserve a chance?" he snarled in a dark tone. He saw Gibbs look at him cautiously. He didn't care. This man didn't deserve Tony to use tact. He was a slime ball that deserved to rot in hell. "You murdered a young woman and then dumped her body at the bottom of the river. In my opinion you lost your chance the moment you killed her."  
  
"Guess, lucky for me its God deciding my fate and not you, Agent DiNozzo," Whitely said, sarcastically.  
  
"Well, that's probably true, because I'd send you straight to hell," Tony snapped.  
  
"DiNozzo," Gibbs said, firmly, "wait outside."  
  
Tony grumbled underneath his breath and pushed the door open. He stepped out of the room, noticed the puzzled expression that the officer standing guard gave him, and stalked off down the hall. He ran his hands through his hair. Coming face to face with the man that had killed Jennifer, the case that had haunted his dreams and some times every waking moment of his life throughout the last four years had been too much to handle. He thought he was stronger than this. Perhaps Abby did have reason to be concerned.  
  
He took a calming breath and closed his eyes. This day hadn't been all that bad he reminded himself. He'd had a lovely lunch with Leah, felt good about where their relationship was going. He shouldn't let that scumbag get to him.  
  
Slowly, Tony opened his eyes. He found a chair and sat down, wringing his hands together tightly. The problem was that scumbag was getting to him. Which was probably why Gibbs had sent him out of the room because he knew anymore sarcastic remarks and he really would throttle him.  
  
Down the hall the door to Whitely's room opened and Gibbs stepped out. The lead agent's blue eyes found Tony and he walked briskly towards him. Tony winced, mentally preparing himself for a tongue-lashing. Instead, the former marine paused when he got to him and sighed. "I should have come here myself. I'm sorry, Tony. I keep forgetting how much this case effected you."  
  
"No one else around to have your six right now, boss," Tony observed, standing. "Bishop's still playing over at the NSA and McGee is on leave."  
  
"It's a four year old cold case with a terminally ill suspect. Not sure I need someone to cover my six," Gibbs said.  
  
"Boss…trouble has a way of finding us," Tony pointed out.  
  
Gibbs chuckled and gestured for Tony to come with him. The two men made their way back to the elevator. Stepping inside, Gibbs waited until the doors had closed and they were alone before he spoke. "Whitely confessed to murdering Jennifer. She wouldn't have sex with him after they left the bar. He raped her, snapped her neck and then tied the weights to her ankles and tossed her in the river. He killed his brother a few months later when the case broke on the news that we didn't have any leads and he recognized Jennifer as the girl Doug had left the bar with one night. There was no getting out of that one. Neighbor heard them fighting and called Metro. When Metro arrived Doug had already stabbed his brother to death."  
  
Tony heaved an angry sigh. "Nice guy. I stand by what I said—he deserves to rot in hell."  
  
"He will."  
  
In the tiny space the SFA began to pace back and forth. "Why does this case get to me so much boss? I've worked hundreds of cases, some of them not so good, some of them unsolved just like this one and none of them haunt me like Jennifer."  
  
Gibbs shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know why certain cases effect us more than others. If some of them didn't I'd be worried, DiNozzo."  
  
Tony stopped pacing and leaned against the wall. He was half expecting Gibbs to stop the elevator so they could have a heart to heart, but he didn't, and the two left the hospital in silence. It really wasn't all Tony needed, but it was all he was going to get. After all these years he knew the different kinds of silence that could be associated with Gibbs. He wasn't joking when he told Ellie that she'd learned his grunts as time went on. He was used to the silence even if he wasn't always comfortable with it. As they got into the Dodge to head back to NCIS he was very uncomfortable with it, he just wasn't sure what to fill that quiet with without getting head slapped.  
  
Miraculously his cell phone rang.  
  
"DiNozzo," he answered, relief quite evident in his voice.  
  
" _I think I found the restaurant for you_ ," McGee reported on the other end. " _It's not too fancy of a place but it's not too casual. Oh and Delilah recommends flowers._ "  
  
"Flowers?" Tony repeated, forgetting that Gibbs was in the car with him. "Okay…this is a third date not an anniversary."  
  
" _Do you want this relationship to end up like all the others?_ "  
  
_Well, that stung_ , Tony noted with a heavy sigh. He noticed Gibbs eying him with that all knowing, bemused glint in his eye and he turned away slightly, grumbling into the phone, "No."  
  
McGee chuckled. " _Then Delilah says you need to get her flowers._ "  
  
"Uh, I'm a little lost here—am I dating Delilah now?"  
  
" _No. She…listen she just wants something else to think about right now, okay? She was rather excited when I said you were going on a date._ "  
  
Tony pursed his lips together. Who was he to argue with a woman that had been paralyzed last week? "I don't suppose that the matchmaker suggested what type of flowers I should get?"  
  
" _Definitely not roses!_ " Delilah's voice cut in. " _Roses are for Valentine's Day and Anniversaries!_ "  
  
"McGee did you put me on speaker?" Tony asked, exasperated.  
  
" _This has been a team effort._ "  
  
Tony groaned and threw his head back. He'd really just been trying to give McGee something to do while the rest of the team closed Jennifer's case. He had not intended to become Delilah's project. "Alright so…I'm getting her flowers that are not roses and taking her where?"  
  
He could almost see McGee and Delilah grinning at one another as they answered in unison, " _The Oyster House and lilies_."  
  
"Great. Thanks."  
  
" _You'll let us know how it goes right?_ " Delilah questioned. " _I mean…we did help you plan all this…in a way._ "  
  
"Yes. I'll let you know," Tony said before hanging up but not before he heard Delilah squeal in delight. What the hell did they drug her up with?  
  
"So," Gibbs said, reminding Tony that he was still present in the car. "Got a date, huh? Guess I should have entered the pool after all."  
  
And despite the horrible place they had just come from, Tony found himself grinning from ear to ear.

* * *

  
  
"Good afternoon, gentlemen," Ducky greeted the pair of agents. "I've been expecting you."  
  
"Hey, Duck. Got something for us?" Gibbs asked.  
  
Ducky nodded his head, noting the tight muscles in Tony's jaw. "Yes. I believe I found out how our victim died." He pointed at the neck area on the remains. It looked disjointed and snapped. "Her neck was broken."  
  
Tony shoved his hands into his pockets. "Just like Whitely told you, boss."  
  
Gibbs let out a silent breath. Yes, it was just like Doug Whitely had told him, however it didn't make him feel any better about this case. They still didn't have the DNA results back and they probably wouldn't have it until the morning. So, there was one more night that the team had to deal with this case. He suddenly had visions of a late night in his basement with bourbon and DiNozzo flashing through his brain. "Yeah," he whispered, "it matches up."  
  
"Unfortunately, Jethro, this is all I can give you. Nature has taken its course on the poor girl," Ducky said with a sigh. "We are going to have to take a killer's word for it."  
  
"What's the world coming to?" Tony snarked, with a shake of his head as he walked away. He mumbled that he work to do and disappeared.  
  
After he was gone, Ducky glanced at Gibbs. "I'm worried about him, Jethro. This case hit Anthony particularly hard and we were not very supportive of him back then. And with everything that has happened in the last few months—I am not sure how much more he can handle."  
  
Gibbs tended to agree. He didn't need to see the threatening look in Tony's eyes in that hospital room today to know that there was an internal struggle his SFA was going through. "I think he's going to surprise us this time, Duck."  
  
"Oh? How so?"  
  
"He's got a date Friday night."  
  
Ducky's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "A date? It's been a while since the boy talked about dating."  
  
Gibbs replied with a simple, "Hmmm-mmm."  
  
"Why do I sense there is more to this story, Jethro?"  
  
"He had McGee look into restaurants for him."  
  
Ducky cocked a smile. "Wow. This must be serious. Hard to believe that this was the same man that was lying on my table a few months ago questioning his decisions over leaving Ziva behind in Israel. I am happy to see that he has finally made peace with all that."  
  
Gibbs paused and pondered this. Had Tony really made peace with Ziva leaving? Lord knows it had not been an easy summer for Tony and he had been on a roller coaster of a ride since returning. But, Gibbs had not seen any signs that his SFA was ready to move on when it came to dating. Gibbs might have kept quiet about Tony's feelings for the Israeli, but he wasn't blind or stupid. And those feelings were not something that just went away over night. So, what had propelled Tony into wanting to move forward? "Not sure if he's made peace or just learned to…accept that she's gone."  
  
"Either way—it's good for the lad."  
  
"Yeah," Gibbs agreed as he left autopsy himself. _At least he's trying not to be me._  
  



	5. It's Her

Early that Friday morning Gibbs was surprised to find Tony working diligently at his desk. He'd been concerned when Tony had not shown up in the basement the previous night—in fact he had been expecting Tony to show up. The younger man hadn't answered his cell or land-line and Gibbs had almost driven over to his apartment to check in on him.  
  
Then he thought better of it. In the last few months Tony had found other people to reach out too, perhaps he had stopped to talk to Reverend Miller—or to the new woman in his life. Tony had probably reached out to one of them, because frankly, Gibbs hadn't been the best person to reach out to lately and he knew he had to be better at that.  
  
"You stay here all night?" Gibbs asked, sipping his coffee.  
  
"Went home for a little while, showered, and came back," Tony said with a shrug. "Couldn't sleep."  
  
Gibbs plopped a coffee down in front of his SFA.  
  
Tony looked up and underneath a tired smile, said, "Thanks, boss."  
  
"Anytime."  
  
Gibbs went to his desk and watched as Tony took a large gulp of his coffee. All the worries he'd had the day before came rushing back. It was evident that Tony had not slept, probably up tossing and turning all night over the Evans' case and the inevitable confrontation with her parents. _Maybe I should send him over to check on Tim and just go inform the family myself_. Tony would never go for it though. He was stubborn and he would want to see this case through to the end. Gibbs felt like he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.  
  
Tony's desk phone rang, breaking the silence of the squad room. The SFA picked it up and answered softly. A dark look came over his face and then he hung the phone up, folded his hands in front of him and looked at Gibbs. "That was Abby."  
  
"And?"  
  
"DNA results are back."  
  
Gibbs didn't need Tony to say it, he could just tell from the look in the senior field agent's green eyes, but Tony voiced it anyways, "It's her. It's Jennifer."  
  
Of all the things he wanted to be doing that day, driving out to West Virginia to speak to Mark and Debbie Evans was not one of them.

* * *

  
  
Tony watched as the tree line flew past them while Gibbs gunned it along the interstate. He'd called McGee to inform his partner that it was Jennifer's remains that had been found. McGee had immediately offered to drive with him to the Evans' but Tony had been firm. Delilah needed him and that was where he needed to be—McGee would thank him someday, he was sure of it. Right now, though, his stomach was churning in dread. This wouldn't be the first time that he'd informed loved ones that their daughter, son, spouse had been killed, but it was certainly the one that had eaten at him the most the last four years.  
  
It was this horrendous drive that stirred up the most memories. He could see Ziva clearly sitting in the front seat, the window down, her hair blowing wildly in the wind. Her brown eyes filled with so much anger. And not anger at the case or the way the Evans' had treated him but at Tony himself.  
  
 _You gave up on her. You let them down_ , she had flung out at him. _What if she is still out there? What if she needs our help? Do you know what that feels like? To be alone with no hope of rescue? Because I do, Tony! And the last thing I wanted or needed was someone giving up on me!_  
  
Tony tried to shake the memory away. _There's nothing more we can do, had been his even response_. Ziva had exploded. Yelling and screaming and demeaning him in so many different languages that he lost count. That didn't matter. She had wounded him so badly that day that a couple of weeks later when Dana Hutton had gone missing he had poured everything into that case—became obsessed with finding her because he didn't want Dana becoming the next Jennifer. He wanted to prove to Ziva that he did not give up that easily. She had shown some concern for him, but it was hidden behind snide remarks about what a woman could possibly see in him.  
  
And despite all that he still loved her, had still tracked her to the far reaches of the Earth to bring her back a second time.  
  
Closing his eyes, Tony listened to the hum of the engine as they drove. He needed to stop thinking about Ziva. His date was tonight and it would be a terrible thing to start off that date with another woman on his mind.  
  
"You okay, Tony?" Gibbs asked, forcing Tony to open his eyes and look at the lead agent. "You're quiet."  
  
"Just thinking, boss," Tony mumbled.  
  
"About?"  
  
"This case—Jennifer—Ziva."  
  
Gibbs sighed and kept his eyes focused on the road. Even after all these months Ziva was still haunting Tony. Not even the prospect of a date that evening was chasing those demons from the SFA. "You talked to Ziva at all since she left?"  
  
Tony shrugged his broad shoulders. "I've tried, boss. She doesn't answer my emails. Or my texts. I left…I left her a message last week." When the lead agent shot him a puzzled look, he shrugged again. "I figured she had heard about the attack on the gala. I wanted to let her know that…that we were all okay."  
  
He wasn't sure why, but the fact that Ziva had not called to check in to make sure the team was okay hurt like hell. Hadn't they been her family? She had been furious last May when Parsons' was on his witch hunt, claiming that he was hurting her family—and she was willing to do whatever it took to defend that family even when Gibbs had ordered her not too. But now there was silence. He at least thought Tony meant more to her than a co-worker, enough to pick up the damn phone and call to make sure he was all right. "She call you back?"  
  
"No. I told her that she didn't have too. I'd…well, it was time for me to make my clean break," Tony replied.  
  
"Sometimes, the hardest thing we have to do is let the ones we love go," Gibbs mumbled as he directed the car off the highway.  
  
 _Boy, don't I know it_ , Tony thought as they fell back into silence. Thirty minutes later they were pulling into a picture perfect neighborhood, down a familiar drive way where at the end was a white house with black trim.  
  
Gibbs shut the Dodge down and leaned back in the driver's seat. Slowly he turned towards his SFA. "Are you up for this?"  
  
"Yeah," Tony choked out, opening his door, "Let's get it over with."  
  
Bracing himself, Gibbs stepped out into the cold, slamming the driver's side door shut. The Evans' house looked exactly the way he remembered it. There were still some decorations from Christmas clinging to the fences and the wind chimes on the front porch blew and played their sad tune. It was almost like a death march and with each note the former marine could see Tony's shoulders stiffening. Some days, this job really sucks, boss, he could hear the younger agent saying in his head as the pair made their way up the porch steps and knocked.  
  
Today was going to be one of those days. Gibbs didn't need to see the look on Mrs. Evans' face when she answered the door to know that.  
  
"Mrs. Evans," the older agent greeted, kindly, "Do you mind if we come in?"  
  
"Of course I mind," she snapped, "but it's cold and I was raised to be polite so I'll let you in. Doesn't mean I have to like it."  
  
Gibbs and Tony exchanged sad glances. "Thank you, ma'am," the senior field agent said, quietly.  
  
She sneered at him and allowed the pair into her home. Her husband joining her in the entrance-way, a hard look in his eyes as well.  
  
Mark and Debbie Evans were about as welcoming to the agents—especially Tony—as they had been four years ago. There was nothing cordial about them inviting the two agents inside or offering them something to drink—it was just the social convention.  
  
Tony sat pretty much in the same spot that he'd sat four years ago, only this time it was Gibbs sitting on that sofa with him and not Ziva.  
  
"What brings you all the way out to West Virginia, Agent Gibbs?" Mark asked, coldly. "It's been four years since we've heard anything from NCIS."  
  
"Metro PD contacted me yesterday. They discovered female remains in the Potomac—with Jennifer's dog tags," Gibbs replied, trying to keep an even tone to his voice. "DNA results this morning confirmed that it was Jennifer. You have our condolences."  
  
Mark's eyes narrowed. "And that's suppose to make this better? We've been spent four years wondering and worrying about where our daughter is. Four years of searching, when everyone else had given up—including the agency sworn to protect her. Well, where were you when she was killed and discarded into the river, Agent Gibbs?"  
  
Gibbs sighed. He knew how they felt. He'd felt this way when Kelly had been killed. "We know that you've spent the last four years wanting answers. It was never our intention or desire to leave you wondering. We wanted to catch the killer was much as you did. But we had other cases with evidence that just could not be ignored. We're here now trying to help bring you some closure."  
  
Debbie frowned and shifted a brown-eyed glare on Tony, who visibly flinched. "Four years of silence and you think you can just show up now and make it right? Do you even have a clue as to who killed our daughter?"  
  
Tony swallowed. "Yes. A man already in prison confessed and led Metro to her body."  
  
"And you're sure it was him?"  
  
"Forensic evidence cannot definitively tie him to the crime. But he has no reason to lie. He's dying."  
  
"So, you expect us to take your word for it, Agent DiNozzo?" Debbie snarled. "Forgive me if I cannot do that."  
  
"I'm sorry," Tony said in a near whisper. "I understand this is difficult."  
  
Debbie's face became dark and her eyes glistened with tears. "Do you have children, Agent DiNozzo?"  
  
Tony shook his head. "No."  
  
"Then don't you dare tell me how difficult this is or pretend to understand it. If you people had done your job four years ago maybe my daughter wouldn't be dead!"  
  
"Mrs. Evans," Gibbs started, firmly, "Your daughter was the unfortunate victim of a violent crime. There was nothing NCIS could have done to prevent it."  
  
Debbie reached for the nearest object and flung it across the room. Tony visibly startled as the vase shattered into a thousand pieces. "Someone should have gotten that monster off the streets before he killed my baby!"  
  
Mark stood with his wife and put his hands on her shoulders. "I think you should leave now, Agent Gibbs. You can show yourselves out."  
  
Tony and Gibbs watched as the couple left them alone in the living room. Slowly the two agents got up from the sofa, leaving behind their untouched waters, and made their way back out to their car. Tony fell into the passenger seat and let out an audible sigh when Gibbs slammed the driver's door shut. "Well…I guess that could have gone worse," the SFA quipped, sadly.  
  
"I'm not sure how much worse it could get," Gibbs mumbled as he started the car up. He backed the Dodge out of the driveway and then directed it back towards the highway. "Those people have had their lives torn apart. Debbie is right, Tony, until you loose a child, you'll never understand their pain."  
  
"Why didn't you tell them that you know that kind of pain?" Tony questioned.  
  
"Because, it would have felt like patronizing them. They've been through enough."  
  
Tony sighed again and watched as the neighborhood turned into trees. He suddenly had no desire to go on that date tonight, but McGee and Delilah had worked so hard on finding him a restaurant and he'd already ordered the flowers.  
  
Gibbs must have read his thoughts because he snapped, "Don't you dare cancel that date."  
  
"Boss…what are you talking about?"  
  
"I know what you're thinking, Tony. Go out with her. Get away from all this bull for a while."  
  
"You know, it never fully leaves you—this job."  
  
Gibbs grunted. "True. But you can at least escape it for a few hours."  
  
Tony looked away, letting them fall into that familiar silence, all the while wondering could Leah really become the escape for him?

* * *

  
  
Tim McGee had just had a rough day. Not even spending it with his sister could shake the terrible feeling of finding out that the remains had been identified as Jennifer Evans. And it was only going to get worse. He could tell that it had been a bad day just by looking at Delilah's face when he entered her hospital room that evening. He knew that the physical therapist had been working her hard, building her upper body strength so she could become a functioning member of society once again but he also knew that it had to be physically and mentally exhausting.  
  
He tried to keep a positive outlook, even if he was still shell shocked that an operation to save her life had effectively changed it forever. "I brought some cookies back from the coffee shop," Tim said, putting the little white bag down onto her tray, "I figured you'd like something besides green Jell-O for dessert."  
  
"Sure, sounds good," Delilah mumbled, not bothering to look at him.  
  
"Sorry I'm late…I met up with Sarah for the day," Tim apologized. "She…she had a break from her lectures."  
  
Delilah still didn't look at him but shook her head. "It's fine, Tim. She's your sister. You shouldn't apologize for wanting to see her."  
  
Tim glanced at Mrs. Fielding sitting across the room from him. The older woman shook her head and he sighed. "I know," he whispered. "It's just…I missed your therapy session."  
  
"It wasn't much of a session," Delilah replied with a sniffle. "I can barely lift two pound weights right now."  
  
"Come on, Delilah, it's only been a week," Tim said. "It's going to take time. You'll feel better once you get out of the hospital."  
  
Now she turned towards him, her blue eyes filled with tears and glaring. Tim knew he'd gone too far and he instantly felt terrible. "Better? I'm never going to walk again! Do you even know what that means, Tim? Everything that I enjoyed doing before—forget about it! I'm not even sure if I'll even have a job at the DOD anymore!"  
  
Tim sighed. "They aren't going to take your job away. You're one of their best analysts."  
  
Delilah furiously shook her head. "Please, just go home, Tim. I don't want any visitors tonight."  
  
He opened is mouth to protest but he saw Mrs. Fielding gesture for him to join her out in the hall. Tim slowly got up, placed a kiss on Delilah's tear soaked cheek, and stepped out. He cursed himself for taking the day to spend with Sarah but ever since she had started teaching English Literature classes at Waverly he hardly got to spend time with his little sister and he really needed some sense of normalcy right now.  
  
"Tim, people do not just recover from these things overnight," Mrs. Fielding said, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. "Give her time. Today was a rough session."  
  
"I know she isn't progressing as fast as she would like," Tim admitted.  
  
Mrs. Fielding smiled, sadly. "Delilah has never been patient. Why don't you go home and come back in the morning? I'm sure she'll feel better once she gets some rest."  
  
Tim nodded and wished her a good night, making his way towards the elevator. Once inside he bit back his emotions and pulled out his cellphone, calling up Tony's number. He didn't even think twice, he simply sent a text that read _movie night_ , because he decided he could not be alone but needed more than Gibbs silent support.  
  



	6. Dates and Movie Nights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay! Here is the hopefully much anticipated first date scene :)

Tony fixed his navy blue sweater, watched as the candlelight from their table flickered in Leah's eyes. He was glad that Gibbs had pushed him to go on this date—the former marine was right she was an escape. She was far removed from the case and the job—she was exactly what he was going to need to get through some of the things that the job threw at him.

She reminded him that it was okay to forget for a couple of hours. This had been a huge problem for him the past few years. Maybe partially due to the fact that he didn't have much of an escape anymore. He'd let the job consume him and others around him.

Perhaps if he had noticed what was happening, that he was closing up to those around him more, things would be different.

"I was surprised that they are considering to send me, I mean…I'm not the most experienced archeologist on the project," Leah was saying, smiling shyly and dragging him away from his dark thoughts. "But a dig in Egypt—I can't pass that up. Usually sites like this are desecrated by grave robbers before we can get in there but this one is so hard to get too that the Egyptian professor seems to think that it has not been touched. Do you know what we could find out there?"

"Hopefully not any curse stricken mummies," Tony teased, smiling at her. "I wouldn't want Imhotep trying to use you to resurrect his dead lover."

Leah laughed and shook her head. "Don't worry, I don't think there are any curse stricken mummies out there. Just lots and lots of artifacts and history to be studied."

Tony took a sip of his martini. He loved how passionate she was about her work and he never thought he'd find someone rambling on about ancient civilizations and artifacts attractive. Yet, here he was, enthralled by her. She was so different than any girl he'd taken out before. Most girls were one-night stands that probably couldn't effectively put a sentence together. Leah wrote entire lectures and presented at Universities across the country. She was smart, like McGee smart, read books for entertainment and had never seen _Top Gun._ This was something Tony had vowed was going to change if they stayed together. "Will you be gone long?"

"Just a couple of weeks," she replied, sounding a bit disappointed. "It's only to go gather some items and come back."

"Would it make a difference if I told you I'm going to miss you?" he asked, grinning.

Her cheeks flushed slightly. "Possibly."

Tony couldn't help but feel his grin getting bigger when the color rose to her cheeks. For a woman that was so sure footed out on digs and in a lecture hall of two hundred students, she wasn't that sure footed when it came romance. She'd once told him that in one of their pre-dating coffee shop chats. Perhaps that was one of things he found he liked in her. Ziva was so comfortable in her sexuality that she had often teased him with it—Leah was the exact opposite. She found men and dating a hard road to navigate, was puzzled by women that seemed to do so effortlessly. Actually, he suddenly realized as he heard his cell phone go off, she was the exact opposite of Ziva in every way—even down to their looks.

Frowning slightly he pulled his phone out and glanced at it in the low light.

"Your boss?" Leah asked, innocently munching on her French fries.

"No. Tim," Tony replied, concerned. Tim hardly asked for a movie night. Something must have happened at the hospital.

"Is that your partner I met yesterday?"

"Yeah. He wants…he wants a movie night."

Leah smiled at him, but then frowned when she saw the obvious confusion on his face. "Do you not do movie nights with him?"

Tony shook his head. "No. Tim and I…well…we're quite different. I mean…he tolerates my love of movies and I've…I've gotten my ass kicked by him at video games…but usually it's me that sets these things up." He set the phone aside and reached for her hand, smiling at her gently. "Sorry. Where were we?"

"I was just boring you with my job," she replied.

"No. You weren't," he assured her. "If my professors had been as attractive as you, I might have paid attention more in school."

Her eyes sparkled and she cracked a coy grin. "Is that why the boys in my lectures pay more attention than the girls?"

Tony took another sip of his drink and gave her hand a squeeze. "I'd placed bets on it."

On the table his phone buzzed again. Tony allowed his eyes to travel towards it, just to make sure it wasn't from Gibbs and saw that it was another message from Tim. He felt his gut churning. Something had to be up if Tim was texting him tonight. His partner knew about his date—he had been the one to find the place to take Leah to dinner. Tony was suddenly torn. Should he answer Tim? Ignore it? What if the probie really did in fact need his support right now?

"Tony," Leah whispered, "answer him. Something must be bothering him."

"Are you sure?" Tony asked. "I mean, we're on a date. Tim…he might just have to understand and wait."

"Yes, I'm sure. Didn't you tell me that his girlfriend was injured last week in that terrorist attack? He's your friend, Tony. It's ...it's okay if you want to be there for him."

Tony nodded and reached for his phone with his free hand, but not before he pulled Leah towards him and kissed her a bit harder than he intended. He pulled back slightly, his free hand slipping away from the cell phone so he could take both his hands and cup her face between them, bringing his lips down towards hers in another kiss. If his cell phone was reminding him that there might be a problem on hand, Tony realized he could get lost in the sensation of kissing a woman that he was attracted too. He liked the pressure of her lips against his, the feel of them as they parted to let him deepen their embrace. When he finally came up for air, he let his lips linger over hers, and smiled, charmingly, "Is that how you made it through grad school, Ms. Dawson."

Leah chuckled. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Some other day perhaps?" Tony asked, pulling back and reaching for his cell.

"Some other day," she repeated. "But not tonight—lady has to keep some secrets for the next date. And you have a partner to check on."

 _Yes, there's that,_ Tony thought sadly as he gazed at his phone. His heart fell when he read the message. _Delilah kicked me out. She had a bad PT session. I could use a movie night, DiNozzo. Please?_

The SFA was suddenly torn about what to do. It was obvious that Tim needed him. For once the younger man was reaching out and not guarding himself, that had to count for something, but at the same time Tony felt terrible for ending this otherwise perfect date on such short notice. He studied Leah for a moment, how the mint green blouse brought out the blue of her eyes, the simplistic make-up she wore and the easy expression. But, he was a trained investigator and he could tell that their date ending short was hurting her. It was evident in her eyes. What the hell was he suppose to do?

He knew that there was no easy answer here and he hated that no matter what he chose, someone would feel the sting of his decision. Sighing, he called the waiter over and asked for their check.

"Of course sir," the young man stammered. Even he seemed surprised that Tony was ending the date so soon.

"Leah," Tony said softly, lacing his fingers through hers, "I really did have a great time." _I'm not trying to get out of this date, please try to understand that._

She forced a smile, trying to put on a brave face, but he could tell that she was hurt. "Me too," she answered, uncertainly, "me too."

* * *

It didn't take Tony long to get to McGee's apartment. He stopped off at his own and grabbed a movie that he was sure his partner was going to like and a six-pack of beer. He hated the fact that he'd cut his date with Leah short. She had obviously been hurt by it but saw his need to be there for McGee.

Tony sighed and knocked on McGee's door. When the door opened all of Tony's doubts about ditching his date went out the window. His partner had a hollow look in his eyes and no matter what happened between Tony and Leah after that night, it didn't compare to the agony that McGee was going through. "Hey."

"Hey. Thanks…thanks for doing this," McGee said, softly, letting Tony into the apartment. "I'm not keeping you from something am I?"

"No," Tony lied, even as Leah's face flashed before his eyes. "Not keeping me from anything."

McGee felt like Tony was lying to him but didn't have the heart to call him out on it. He was just so tired and bothered by Delilah's depression and outburst. It comforted him to know that his partner had dropped everything he was doing and came over with a movie to cheer him up a bit. Just like McGee knew he would. Tony could be a pain in the ass at times but he was a loyal pain in the ass. "Thanks," he repeated again, rubbing a hand over his face. "I…I need…an escape."

The SFA threw him a smile. "It wasn't a problem," he lied again, shrugging off his coat. He had changed as well when he got home. He knew that McGee had forgotten about the date and he didn't want to guilt trip him. "Brought _The Avengers._ " McGee nodded, mutely. Tony held up the six-pack of beer. "And some beer."

His partner still didn't react and gestured towards the sofa. Tony frowned slightly and went to put the movie in and place the beer on the coffee table. Behind him he heard McGee flop down onto the sofa.

Tony grabbed the remote, started the movie up and went to sit with him. "So…she had a rough day, huh?"

"Yes. And I wasn't there. I was spending it with Sarah."

"I'm sure Delilah understands that, Tim."

McGee shook his head. "It's not that, Tony. Her life has completely changed and mine…well…mine can still go on as normal as possible. I'm not going to be fitted for a wheelchair and have my place made handicap accessible. I'm not going through hours of physical therapy just so I can live on my own again. She is and I should be there supporting her no matter what. I was selfish today and I spent it with my sister."

Tony reached for a beer and popped it open. "When was the last time you saw Sarah, McGee?"

The younger man shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Christmas, maybe."

"Okay, then, there's nothing selfish about wanting to spend time with a loved one you don't see very often," Tony said, handing McGee the beer.

"I knew this was going to be hard. I'm not an idiot but…it's harder than even I thought it was going to be."

Tony opened another beer and took a long sip from it. He couldn't begin to understand what McGee was going through, to see someone that he loved that hurt. But he was going to do his best to make the probie feel better. "You know," he finally said, "there are plenty of people that suffer injuries just like this and are able to go about their lives. Sure, things change for them, but that doesn't mean they can't have jobs and families—they just need different…accommodations to get those things."

McGee blinked back some tired tears. He didn't need to cry in front of Tony of all people. "I know," he whispered, "I just wish _she_ would start believing that."

"She needs to go through a grieving process first, McGee," Tony said. "Everyone does."

"I feel helpless."

"There isn't much you can do right now while she's in the hospital. When she gets to come home there'll be more that she's going to need you for."

McGee fixed his eyes on the television screen, watching the fictional super heroes save the day. When he was a kid he had pretended to be one of those heroes, saving the day. It was one of the reasons why he had become a federal agent—he wanted to help people. But every person that he'd helped doing this job there were those that he didn't help and right now Delilah was at the top of the list.

Tony reached out and clamped his hand down on the younger man's shoulder. He gave it a silent squeeze before going back to his beer. For the rest of the evening they watched the movie, commenting here and there on it, chuckling over the overdramatic of the heroes rescues. And by the time the credits rolled, McGee was feeling better. He had been the big brother growing up and had never known the love of one until he'd joined NCIS. Sure, there were times when McGee had wanted to strangle Tony, but he reasoned that all siblings at one point wanted to do that to each other. The truth was, McGee was glad that he had a friend like Tony looking out for him.

As Tony gathered his things and slipped back into his jacket, McGee said, "Hey Tony, thanks."

"You got it, Probie," Tony said with a gentle smile as he opened the door to leave. "Hey, Tim."

McGee turned and looked at him expectantly. "Yeah?"

"It's going to be fine."

For the first time since the drone attack, McGee finally believed it.


	7. Never Involve Lawyers

Anthony DiNozzo had never been fond of Monday mornings, but this particular one he found he was loathing. Leah had not answered any of his attempts to contact her since he cut their date short Friday night and he was coming into the office to stare down a mountain of paper work.

He was mildly surprised to find Ellie Bishop seated at her desk. "Ah, the NSA has allowed you to come back and play with us for a while," Tony said with a smile. "Did you miss us, Bishop?"

Bishop looked up, her brown eyes almost sad and lonely, and Tony felt…well he wasn't sure what he felt. Awful? Curious? Concerned? She was a pretty open book to read and he had seen this look in her eyes before, when the NSA agent had been killed while she worked her first case with them. She'd never experienced someone she knew dying in the field like that. He'd envied her back then. "Actually," she said, softly, "I did. You guys are a lot different than the NSA."

Tony smiled and sat down at his desk. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"Did I miss anything?" Bishop asked, innocently.

"Four year old cold case," Tony remarked with a shrug.

"Oh wow, really?"

"Trust me, it wasn't that exciting."

Bishop pursed her lips together. She had been locked up in debriefings with the NSA and when she'd gotten out, her husband had informed her about a body involved in a NCIS cold case had been found. She would have thought that Tony would be happy that the case had wrapped up and that the killer had been found. The woman's family could find closure now, couldn't they?

Tony's hardened face suggested something entirely different. Bishop liked working with the three men and she truly felt that they had been the only ones so far that had not put a stop to her thought process. However, she still had a lot to learn. Cold cases—cases in general—they just didn't make sense to her. And, if the truth be told, she was just here to help them catch Parsa and then, well, she'd probably be back at the NSA thrown in a corner somewhere to _predict the future._ At least here she was given some room to stretch her wings and fly a little. So far it had been a fledging flight, she dropped out of the sky and landed on her face a couple times.

But Gibbs, Tony, and McGee seemed to be willing to let her fledge and fall a bit in the sake of growing. In the short time she had been there she had found a sense of belonging that was never present at the NSA. "If you need help with that I don't mind. Chatter on Parsa is quiet today."

Tony shook his head and thanked her, but all the paperwork required that it was filled out by an active agent. Bishop was on loan from the NSA and still employed by them. Her offer to help was sweet but it was a bit pointless. Staring at the paper work in front of him, Tony almost wished he had taken a sick day. Of course that would have had Gibbs or Abby at his door. It was probably best that he had come in.

He placed his cell phone on his desk and looked at it wishfully for a moment. He didn't expect Leah to call him, afterall she had ignored him all weekend—despite the fact that he had sent more flowers and an apology note over to her apartment yesterday. He sighed and flipped open his case file and clicked his pen to life, just as his desk phone rang.

"DiNozzo."

" _Agent DiNozzo, there's a lawyer here to see you…something about the Evans' case?"_ the security guard, Jack, told him. " _Should I send him up?"_

Tony could already feel a headache forming. "A lawyer? What does he want? The case is closed."

Jack paused and cleared his throat. " _Um, well, he says something about a wrongful death suit."_

 _Well, I probably should have seen that one coming._ Tony rubbed his temples. "Yeah. Send him up to the conference room, with an escort. Monday can't get much worse, can it?"

* * *

Al Ford was a thin, short man but what he lacked in stature he made up for in overbearing personality. "Agent DiNozzo, thank you for meeting with me!" he exclaimed, exuberantly shaking Tony's hand. "I know you must be very, very busy."

"Yes," Tony huffed, gesturing for the man to sit down. "What can I do for you?"

"I represent Mark and Debbie Evans. We've been trying to procure any and all documents pertaining to their daughter's case," Ford said, smiling slimily at him.

Tony licked his lips and carefully chose his next words. "Can I just ask—who exactly are Mr. an Mrs. Evans suing here? Because if they're pursuing a case against NCIS I probably shouldn't be talking to you."

Ford chuckled. "Oh no. They are not pursuing a case against NCIS. They of course came to me under that guise but…unfortunately there is nothing that NCIS could have done to prevent their daughter from being murdered. You, sir, are in the clear."

"Comforting," Tony joked. "You didn't answer my question—who are they suing?"

"Doug Whitely's family. They knew he had an anger management problems and refused to get him help."

Tony felt his muscles stiffen. He'd already taken part in tearing one family apart by not getting their daughter justice and as much as he wanted Whitely to rot in hell, he didn't feel right about helping to inflict that suffering upon his family. "Listen, Mr. Ford, we don't have that much on the man. He confessed to a priest where to find the body, Metro found the body, we identified the remains and performed the autopsy to collaborate his story."

Ford nodded his head, writing something down on his legal pad. "So, Doug Whitely did kill Jennifer Evans?"

"He says he did," Tony said with a shrug. "Evidence, however, cannot definitively say he did. She was at the bottom of the Potomac for four years. And unfortunately, forensic evidence has pretty much washed away."

"Still, I'd still like to see your case reports."

"Fine, I'll consult with our legal department and see what I can do."

Ford jumped up from his seat and held out his hand. "Pleasure, Agent DiNozzo, doing business with you."

 _Business?_ Tony questioned, silently while he shook the lawyer's hand. It didn't feel like he was doing business. In fact he felt rather slimy himself for agreeing to give the lawyer access to their case files. Perhaps that was the small part inside of him that was screaming _someone has to pay for Jennifer's death._ Tony opened the door to the conference room and sent the lawyer on way with the escort and tucking the lawyer's business card in his pocket, Tony decided that it was time for a coffee break.

* * *

Tony entered the coffee shop, his green eyes scanning the crowd and tables. When he didn't find Leah he felt disappointment running rampant through him. _It's later than normal, that's why she isn't here,_ he tried to tell himself, but all his self doubts nagged at him as he stepped up to the counter.

"Hi Agent DiNozzo," the barista greeted. "I didn't think I was going to see you today when Ms. Dawson came in by herself."

"I, ah, I had something to do this morning," Tony lied. _No, you avoided the shop because she's mad at you._ "I'll take my usual, Cori."

"Sure," Cori said, smiling, "Coming right up."

Tony let out a frustrated sigh and leaned against the counter. Why was this dating thing so hard for him? He'd been good at it once, obviously because Wendy had said yes to his proposal. But when had that changed? When had he stopped being a hopeless romantic like she remembered him and become...this...version of himself? Rubbing his hands over his face, Tony decided he was never going to be able to nail down when he changed. Wendy had broken him and to date he had not found a woman to help him heal. Partially, he knew he was to blame for that. When they got too close he pushed them away. _  
_

Cori came back with his coffee and he dug out the money to pay for it, making sure to leave her a couple of extra bills for a tip. With a half-assed smile, Tony exited the shop.

It was still bitterly cold in Washington and he had to walk quickly to get back to the Charger. As he got into the warmth of the car and started up, his cell phone rang. "Yeah, DiNozzo," he answered, wrestling the coffee into the cup holder and then shoving the keys into the ignition.

" _You ditched your date for me!"_ McGee yelled at him on the other end. " _Tony! What the hell! I thought you wanted this one to work out?"_

 _"_ How did you find out about that?" Tony asked, anxiously as he started the car. _I certainly didn't tell you._

" _I went to see Delilah this morning and she asked if you had said anything about it,"_ McGee ground out. " _Tony I'm not worth risking a relationship with Leah over."_

Tony frowned. "Tim, you're my partner and my friend. Yes, you are worth the risk of a new relationship. She understood."

McGee let out a frustrated breath. " _You haven't talked to her since, Friday, have you?"_

"No. But that doesn't mean anything."

" _Yes it does! It means she's upset! It means she thought you were using me as an excuse to get out of a bad date!"_

Tony rolled his eyes. "Listen, until you texted me the date was going really well. I don't think she's going to believe that I was trying to get out of the date. Okay? Stop kicking yourself over this. Everything between me and Leah is fine."

McGee didn't need to see Tony's eyes to know that he was lying, he just knew. " _Tony. Everything is not fine. You haven't talked to her since Friday night. I'm assuming you called her. Maybe sent her more flowers because you felt bad. And she hasn't responded to you? Now, I maybe no relationship expert but that tells me everything isn't fine and I just...I just don't want to be the cause for you missing out on something...something great. Okay?"_

"Yeah. Okay, I get it, Probie."

" _Promise me, DiNozzo. you will not do that again. You will not ditch Leah for me to mope around during a movie night."_

"Fine. I promise."

" _Doesn't sound like you mean it."_

His line beeped that he had an incoming call. _Oh thank God._ "Well, would you look at that, Gibbs is calling. Can't talk anymore,Tim! Bye!"

" _Wait-Tony!"_

Tony switched the line over. "Hey, Boss."

" _Legal department says you asked that our case files for the Evans' case be sent over to a lawyer?"_

"Ah, yeah. Mr. and Mrs. Evans are suing the Whitely family for wrongful death. Since we...well, since we can't give them justice...guess I figured I could at least give the lawyer access to our files."

Gibbs was silent and Tony could picture the lead agent glaring at him. " _DiNozzo. Do I even have to recite the rules to you?"_

Tony sighed, letting his shoulders slump, slightly, "I know. Never involve lawyers. He probably would have subpoenaed them anyways."

" _Uh-huh."_

"So, what are you calling me for then? If not to yell at me?"

" _Just making sure that you didn't willing involve a lawyer."_

"I would never do that boss."

" _Hmm-mmm, I just hope this doesn't blow up in our face,"_ Gibbs said before hanging up.

Tony put the phone down onto the dash and frowned. This case had already blown up in their face. But that didn't stop the dreadful feeling he had in his gut.

* * *

"He can be such a pain in the ass," Tim mumbled as he hung up the phone.

"Who?" Delilah asked, although she was pretty sure she knew the answer.

Tim scowled and sat down in his chair next to her hospital bed. Despite the good news that his girlfriend would be leaving the hospital and moving into a rehab center where they could really work on building her strength up, he was in a slightly foul mood. Which, he could attribute to finding out that Tony had ditched his date to have a movie night with him. "Tony, who else?" he grumbled, shoving his phone back into his pocket.

Delilah chuckled. "You didn't expect to change completely overnight did you?"

He had to admit she had a point. It was true that Tony was doing his best to change, however, one could not expect certain aspects of his personality to vanish completely. Being stubborn was one of them. "No, I just...I didn't think he'd actually ditch his date to watch a dumb movie with me."

"You know, he cares about you more than you give him credit for," Delilah pointed out. "You were upset and you needed a friend."

"I just...I don't want to be the reason that his relationship falls apart," Tim complained.

"Tim, I don't think you have to worry about that."

"She hasn't returned his calls."

"You two don't know a lot about women do you?"

Tim shook his head. No, admittedly he didn't know a lot about women and it was painfully obvious that Tony didn't know women either. He could claim he knew them all he wanted, but deep down he was just as confused by them as Tim was.

Delilah smiled, softly. "We get mad, Tim, but a part of being in a relationship is forgiving. She just...needs time."

"I don't know. Maybe I should call her. Apologize. Tell her the truth."

"No. Tony would kill you."

"Okay, but I just...I feel responsible."

"Tim."

McGee sighed and raised his hands in surrender. He wasn't going to win this argument with either Tony or Delilah. So, instead he reached out and took her hand and squeezed it. "When you get out of rehab, and if Tony manages to last in that relationship for long, we should have a movie night-all four of us."

Delilah smiled back. "I'd like that." And Tim could take comfort in knowing that she meant it. "I'd like that a lot."


	8. Stay

" _Hey, DiNozzo, it's Sportelli. Just thought you and your boss would like to know that Whitely died this morning from his cancer. Wish this case could have gone differently for you. Until next time I guess."_

Tony slammed the receiver of his desk phone down and deleted the message. He felt very little relief that Doug Whitely was now dead and in hell where he belonged. If there was a God this seemed like such a cop out. The man should have suffered in jail not leave this world before his time. Tony knew that cancer was no walk in the park but four years didn't seem like enough punishment.

Gibbs broke his line of thought when he asked, "Everything alright, DiNozzo?"

"Sportelli called while I hitting the head, left a message. Whitely's dead."

"DiNozzo…rule 11."

"Yeah. I know, boss."

Tony dropped his tired, aching body down into his chair and stared at the last bit of paperwork he had to complete for the day. Gibbs had let Bishop go for the night and it was just the two men in the bullpen working. He just couldn't walk away from this one though. It was easier said then done and he knew that this one was going to haunt him for the rest of his life.

Gibbs watched the SFA for a moment, noting the tension in the younger man's shoulders. "DiNozzo, why don't you call it a night? That paperwork can wait until morning."

"I'm fine boss."

"It actually wasn't a suggestion."

Tony looked at the senior agent with a hallow expression and then slowly got up. He put his coat on and fished out his badge and gun. Reaching for his back-pack he quietly said good night and retreated to the elevator. Inside, he pressed the button for the garage and leaned against the wall while he rode it down. God, he just wanted to curl up and hide for days. But of course that wasn't an option, so he'd just have to think of a different way to deal with the weight this case was leaving on his chest.

Getting into his car, he sighed, heavily. Starting it up he knew exactly where he had to go.

* * *

Reverend Miller was just making his final rounds for the evening when he caught sight of a lone figure sitting in a pew at the front of his parish. A figure that he recognized. "Anthony?"

Anthony DiNozzo turned slowly and threw a lopsided grin at the priest. "Hey, Reverend."

"What are you doing here so late?" the Reverend asked as he approached. He sat down in the pew with the young man, noting the troubled look in his green eyes and the slump of his shoulders. He knew from the support group that the federal agent was having a rough couple of weeks but he didn't realize it had been that bad. It was something that the priest was working on with Anthony, getting him to open up more and not to hide so much. However, it was still a work in progress. "Is everything all right?"

"Tough day," Anthony confessed with a shrug. "I just…needed a quiet place to come think."

Miller nodded his head and studied Anthony for a moment. When he'd come to the church for the support group he had been an incredibly guarded man, and rightfully so. In his life there had not been a lot of people that he could depend on and the ones that he did depend on seemed to leave him more often then they stayed. It had taken a lot of work to get Anthony to open up a little to the group, but once he did, Miller could see a kinder, gentler man emerge. "You're welcome here anytime, Anthony. Always."

Anthony sighed, sadly. "Yeah. Wish I realized that four years ago. Not sure it would have mattered much anyways."

"Four years ago? What happened four years ago?"

"Bad case. Really, really bad case. Young navy officer vanished. We were convinced she was murdered but we never caught the guy. Never would have if he hadn't died from cancer today."

Miller recalled a newspaper article that he'd read early that morning, about an inmate dying from lung cancer who had confessed to a minister that he'd killed a woman missing for four years. It made sense now. The woman had been military and Anthony had investigated her disappearance and death. "You can take solace that now she can rest in peace in the presence of God."

Anthony's brow furrowed in deep thought. "Reverend, was God with her when she was probably screaming for help? Was he with her as she took her last breath and then as she was dumped into the Potomac? Because if God did exist…would this happen?"

"God is with us always, Anthony. But one of his gifts to us is free will and unfortunately some use that free will to do evil," Miller answered, honestly.

"Yeah, don't I know it," the young man mumbled with a shake of his head.

"It's late, Anthony, and I can see that you are troubled—is there anyone that you can reach out to? Family? Friends? A girlfriend?"

Anthony smiled, even if it was a little sad, and nodded his head. "Yeah. Yeah…there is someone I can go see."

Miller felt relieved. He hated to leave people that were obviously hurting but he had to close the church for the night. "That's good, Anthony. I suggest you go see them."

* * *

Leah Dawson was in the middle of preparing for a presentation when there was a knock on her apartment door. It startled her because it was so late and because she was not expecting any company. Leaving her papers scattered about on the dining room table, she got up and went to answer.

"I'm coming," she called when the person knocked again. She pressed her hands to the door and glanced out the peephole.

Almost immediately her heart began to race. What was Tony doing here this late? So, she hadn't been the nicest person and called him back, but she'd been working on this presentation—there was no time for a personal life. Is that why he was here? Because she hadn't called him back? She fell back on her heels and gazed down at her attire. She was wearing a tee shirt that was three times too big for her and a pair of Daisy Dukes. Her hair was wild and disheveled from her pacing back and forth reciting her speech while running her hands through her locks. In short—she was not presentable. Tony knocked again. "Um," she stuttered, "One…one minute."

Frantically she glanced around the small entrance hall, pausing in front of the mirror. She ran her fingers through her hair trying to smooth it back into place and then pinched her cheeks to give them some color because…well, she had seen her grandmother do it years and years ago when she was a little girl. Taking a deep breath she unlatched the chain lock and turned the knob.

Tony smiled when he finally saw her. "Hi."

Leah managed a nervous smile in return. "Hi."

"I…I'm sorry about Friday night," Tony said, softly, his eyes searching her face. "Are you mad at me?"

"No. I just…I have to give this presentation before going to Egypt. I've been working on it all weekend."

"I thought you were never going to open that door."

"Had to clean up a bit," Leah lied with a shrug. "What…what are you doing here? It's late."

"Sort of had a rough day," Tony said, his smile faltering slightly. "And…and I tried to make peace with it on my own but…decided that it wasn't what I wanted to do."

Leah nodded her head, trying to understand where he was going with this. She'd known Tony for a few months now but they had only been dating for a couple of weeks. She had learned, however, that he had a complicated process when he was trying to get his thoughts out and she had learned in those two weeks that she just had to let him finish. "So, what do you want to do?" she asked, softly.

Tony grinned now and held up a DVD. "I thought it was the perfect time to introduce you to _Top Gun._ "

"It really bugs you that I've never seen it, huh?"

"Keeping me up at night."

Leah laughed and allowed him inside the apartment. She slammed the door shut and slid the chain lock on. "Well, a movie sounds better than reciting my presentation again."

Tony slipped out of his jacket and hung it up, revealing that he was wearing nothing but a black, form fitting tee shirt and jeans that hung just below his hips. "I knew it wouldn't take much to persuade the little worker bee in you."

"Okay, I only said yes because I've been working on this since dinner."

"You're going to be great. No worries."

"No worries?" Leah squeaked, watching him pop the DVD into the player and turn the television on. He threw her one of his easy smiles, the one where he could make life seem so carefree and a breeze. She furrowed her brow. "This presentation could make or break my career, Tony. I need to nail it."

Tony stood and moved towards her. Gently he took her by the arms and planted a kiss on the top of her head. "You will," he promised her. Pulling back he let his green eyes rest on her face and then a gleam came to them, like a child on Christmas Day and he recited, "Now…On March 3, 1969 the United States Navy established an elite school for the top one percent of its pilots. Its purpose was to teach the lost art of aerial combat and to insure that the handful of men who graduated were the best fighter pilots in the world. They succeeded. Today, the Navy calls it Fighter Weapons School. The flyers call it: TOP GUN."

Leah allowed him to drag her to the sofa. She plopped down next to him, her mind still focusing on that presentation. It was one of the reasons she was so good at her job, she did tend to hyper-focus on things, but the moment Tony's arm snaked around her, drawing her towards his warm body she forgot about the presentation.

By the time the end credits began to roll the pair were completely wrapped up in each other's arms, lying on the sofa. Tony made a move to get up to get his DVD and shut the equipment down, but she tightened her hold on him. "Stay."

"Stay?" he repeated. "Are you sure?"

"Uh-huh," she said, sleepily. "You're comfy and warm."

Tony chuckled, lowly. He reached for the remote and shut the DVD player and television down. He pulled the blanket at their feet up around them, wrapped his arms around her tightly and watched as she fell asleep. "Hey. We're…we're good right?"

Leah's eyes fluttered open and she looked at him. "Good?"

"I don't want…I don't want things to change between us because of…my ditching you Friday…because…I really, really like you."

"Nothing's changed. And I really, really like you too."

He smiled at her and ran his fingers through her hair. Slowly he lowered his mouth to hers, capturing her lips in a tender kiss. "I really should go. You have that presentation tomorrow."

She shook her head, burrowing against him. "Stay, please," she whispered as she drifted off to sleep.

Tony gently kissed her on her forehead, settling into the cushions of the sofa. As he drifted off himself, he whispered, "Alright, I'll stay."


	9. Eventually

Tony awoke the next morning to either one of two things. The first being the smell of fresh baked blueberry muffins—the second being his cell phone ringing in his pocket.

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he stretched his back and dug the smartphone out of his pocket and slid his finger over the screen to answer, not bothering to see who was calling. "Yeah," he mumbled.

" _Oh, good morning Agent DiNozzo. Did I wake you?"_ the exuberant, annoying voice of Al Ford asked.

"What can I do for you Mr. Ford?" Tony asked, not gratifying him with an answer to his question. "I consulted with legal, you should have your paperwork."

Papers being shuffled could be heard before the lawyer spoke. " _Well, that's the thing, Agent DiNozzo—there's not a lot here to go on."_

Tony rolled his eyes. He'd pretty much told the lawyer that when they met a few days ago. Of course, he wasn't surprised that the lawyer hadn't listened to him. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Tony stood, kicking the blanket off of him. "Mr. Ford, unfortunately that's all we have for you. There just isn't any physical evidence. Trust me, I know that this is not what you or the Evans' want to hear. I wish I could do more for you."

" _It's funny you should mention that, Agent DiNozzo,"_ Ford said and Tony could see his sleazy smile. " _Would you be willing to testify?"_

"No," he said firmly and before the lawyer could protest, he continued, "I'm not going to drag NCIS through the mud anymore than we already were. Win the case on your own." Slamming his finger down onto the screen he hung up. God, this was not the way he wanted to start his morning. He needed a cup of coffee and a shower. _And damnit you're not at your place._

Tony shoved the phone back into his pocket and closed his eyes tightly. He took in the silence of Leah's apartment, using it to calm and center himself. It wasn't fair to take his sudden bad mood out on her. After all, he was pretty sure he would have enjoyed waking up here if it hadn't been for the intrusive call from the lawyer.

Hearing the clunk of a heavy plate on the coffee table, Tony opened his eyes. Leah was standing there, dressed in a pair of black trousers and a gray tweed blazer that had a ruffled collar and was very figure flattering. Her long hair was pulled back at the temples, pulling it away from her face to showcase her features. She smiled at him and gestured towards the plate. "I made muffins."

"You got up early to make muffins? Of the homemade variety?" Tony questioned with a grin.

"Well, actually, it's more like they're from the box and just add water variety not scratch," Leah replied with a shrug. "Coffee's in the kitchen."

She turned to go, but Tony reached out and grabbed her by arm, pulling her towards him. He kissed her, feeling his anger at Ford dissipating in that kiss. "Thank you," he told her, running his fingers along her arms.

"For what?"

"For giving me hope in humanity again."

"Kind of an odd thing to be thanking me for."

"Maybe I'll tell you the story behind it sometime."

Leah smiled at him and kissed his cheek. "Listen, I have to get going. I have a department meeting before my lecture. Dinner tonight?"

Tony took her hands and gave them a squeeze. "Yeah," he said with an easy smile, "I have place in mind."

* * *

"Special Agent McGee, could I have a word with you please?"

Tim looked up from fixing his morning coffee to see a small man waiting for him. He didn't recognize him and he really didn't want to stop to talk to him. Delilah had been moved to the rehab center that morning and he wanted to get over there to check-in. But, his parents had raised a gentleman and he resigned to speaking. "Yes. Who are you?"

He smiled, holding his hand out to the special agent. "Al Ford. I represent Mr. and Mrs. Evans."

"Jennifer Evans' parents?"

"Yes."

"Can I ask why you want to speak to me?"

Ford gestured for the young man to sit down at a near-by table. Tim reluctantly did so. "The Evans' are pursuing a wrongful death suit against Doug Whitely's family. It has been brought to their attention that his family was aware of his anger management problems and did nothing about it. I was hoping to get an NCIS agent to testify on their behalf about their daughter's case. JAG informed me that Agent DiNozzo was probably my best bet. Unfortunately, he turned me down."

Tim frowned. Tony probably had good reason to turn them down. NCIS had already been dragged through the mud on that case and they did not need to rehash it. "I don't know what my partner told you—or how you found me—but, we don't make it a habit of getting involved in civil cases."

"Agent McGee, I shouldn't have to point out to you that the Evans' very easily could sue NCIS," Ford said, glowering slightly.

"Hey!" Tony's voice suddenly cut through the crowd, dark and threatening. "What do you think you're doing?"

Tim looked up to see his partner's face—his partner's angry face. He was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, badge clipped at his waist, but it didn't appear that he was carrying his weapon. Nervously he glanced at the lawyer, smiling bravely up at the SFA. Obviously this man had no idea what he was messing with. A truly angry Tony was not something Tim _ever_ wanted to toy with.

Ford pointed towards the empty chair at the table. "Agent McGee and I were discussing his testimony. Isn't that right, Agent McGee?"

"Again, I hate to disappoint you, but there will be no testimony," Tim insisted, his hand clutching tightly at his coffee cup.

"I got off the phone with you over an hour ago," Tony snapped at the lawyer. "How'd you find my partner so quickly?"

"Private investigator friend of mine traced his cell phone for me."

Tony's fists balled up at his sides. Tim wondered if the senior field agent would actually take a swing at him. "Keeping tabs on us, Mr. Ford?"

Ford's grin didn't leave his face. "You agents have something that I want and I'll do whatever it takes to get it—legally of course. By the way, you have exquisite taste in women, Agent DiNozzo. I saw her leaving this morning—very beautiful."

"Oh, so you're spying on us now. Is that the game you're going to play?" Tony snapped, green eyes smoldering.

"I was hoping to talk to you but you left rather quickly yourself," Ford said. "I figured I'd take my shot at Agent McGee until I could pay you a visit at NCIS later."

Tony ran his tongue over his lips, the fire in his eyes only growing. "Okay. I'm going to make this easy for you, Ford. Tim—he's on a leave right now, therefore, he is not available to testify at your civil hearing. Secondly, I have a few friends too—at Metro—and if I see you outside of Leah's apartment again, I might be compelled to call them and have them lock you up for the night for harassment. Third—you can kiss my ass—let's go Tim."

Tim got to his feet and with his head bowed followed Tony back outside to the awaiting SUV. He climbed into the passenger seat and sat there silently while Tony drove through the streets of Washington. "So, um, why aren't you at work?"

"I took the day off," Tony said simply. "I was on my way to George Washington University to listen to Leah's presentation when I stopped to get a coffee. Glad I stopped."

"Hey, Tony, I could have handled the lawyer."

"Tim, I know that. But now I also know that he's going to play hardball."

"Why does he want one of us to testify so much? What could we possibly add to the case? I mean…we didn't interview the guy until he was _dying._ "

Tony shook his head. "I don't know, Tim," he whispered as he pulled up to the bus stop so Tim could catch the bus to the rehab center. "But, it has me worried."

Tim frowned and got out of the car. "Yeah. Me too."

* * *

Leah was surprised to see him standing outside of the lecture hall when she was done giving her presentation.

Tony smiled from ear to ear. "Told you that you would nail it."

"You came and watched me?" she asked, disbelief in her voice.

"Yes," he said with a chuckle. He reached for her, resting his hands on her waist. "I wanted to be here to support you. Turns out, you didn't need my support. You, my dear had all those undergrad students wrapped around your finger with your wealth of knowledge. Someone is going to Egypt."

Leah could only hope at this point that he was right. Going to that dig showed how much the team respected her and trusted her. And it wouldn't look so bad on her resume that she had participated in a dig in Egypt. She had felt good about her lecture but seeing Tony there, the hint of pride in her eyes, that meant even more to her then a lecture hall of undergraduate students hanging on her every word. She reached up and pressed her lips to his in a passionate kiss. When she pulled back she couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face and then a thought hit her and she frowned. "Why aren't you working?"

Tony chuckled. "I took the day off. Believe me, I needed the break. And I kind of wanted to spend it with you."

"What are we going to do?"

"Anything you want, sweetheart."

"I kind of want to go home and get out of these clothes."

He quirked an eyebrow in curiosity and he grinned cheekily. "Really? That's very naughty of you, Ms. Dawson."

She blushed and adverted her eyes. "I…I didn't mean it that way."

Tony laughed and kissed her lightly on the lips. "It's okay. I know we aren't ready for that step in our relationship yet."

"We will be…eventually."

"Oh, really?"

Leah smiled at him, coyly. "Yes. You're rather cute."

Tony's eyes studied her face, the affectionate look in her own eyes. Would he ever be truly ready to take their relationship to the next level? By now he'd already slept with a woman and left her. The fact that he had stuck around this long with Leah spoke volumes, but taking their relationship to that intimate level had different ramifications than it had in the past. Ziva's face flashed to the forefront and he felt his heart skip a few beats. _What the hell?_ He thought, _I made my peace. Why are you still haunting me, Ziva?_

"Are you okay, Tony?" Leah questioned, bringing him back to the hear and now. "I think…I think I lost you for a moment."

"Yeah…yeah I'm fine," Tony lied, forcing a smile. "And you're right, eventually, we'll be ready."

Leah didn't need him to say it, she already knew, even as he took her by the hand and led her out of the lecture hall. There was another woman, perhaps one out of his reach, but she was still present, and she was coming between them the closer they seemed to get.

* * *

Gibbs was prepared for a quiet evening working in his basement. He'd poured himself a bourbon and had just gotten his tools out when he heard the front door open. Listening intently for a moment he heard two pairs of feet walking across his floor. Gibbs didn't need the visitor to open the basement door and call out so he would know who was there, but they did at as courtesy anyways.

"Boss?"

"Yeah, DiNozzo, I'm down here," Gibbs called back with a smile, and then added, "I hope that's pizza I smell."

Tony appeared at the bottom of the stairs, a pizza box in one hand, a pretty girl's hand in the other. "Hey, boss. Hope you don't mind that we just...stopped by."

Gibbs put his tools down and pushed his goggles up. "Are you going to stand there, DiNozzo? Or are you going to introduce me?"

His senior field agent blinked back to life. "Oh right." He led the young woman into the basement and put the pizza box down onto the worktable. "Um…Leah…this is…this is my boss, Jethro Gibbs. Boss, this...this, well, I guess I could call her my girlfriend...Leah Dawson."

 _Girlfriend,_ the team leader thought, _Tony really is changing. And about damn time too._

And the significance of Tony bringing her to the basement spoke volumes. He was serious about this and Gibbs could only pray as Tony open the pizza box and told them dinner was served, that this time it worked out for the younger man.


	10. Rule 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. Enjoy!

Tony cracked a smile as he pulled into Gibbs' driveway. Shutting the car down he took a deep breath while looking at the house. This was more nerve wracking then he'd thought it was going to be. He didn't want Leah to be introduced to his father right away because, well, his father needed some form of explanation but he didn't care what Senior thought of Leah. Gibbs, on the other hand, while needing a form of explanation himself, Tony valued his opinion. And he really wanted the boss to like her.

"Are we going to sit in the car and stare at the house?" she asked.

"No," Tony grumbled as he opened his door and got out. Leah got out with him and slammed her door shut so Tony could lock the car up.

Grabbing a hold of her hand, he made his way to the front door. When he opened it without knocking, she held back slightly. "He keeps his door unlocked?"

"Uh-huh. Door is always open."

"We don't have to knock?"

"Nope."

"He's not worried that someone will, you know walk in and kill him?"

"Guy was a marine sniper. So…no."

Leah stepped tentatively into the house and looked around. Gibbs house wasn't as fashionable decorated as her apartment and Tony believed that to be because Gibbs was a practical man—and Shannon was no longer around to make sure the house looked modern. But it had always been warm and inviting to the senior field agent, a safe place for him to come to when his own apartment seemed cold and lonely.

Tony led her through the kitchen and opened the basement door. "Boss?"

"Yeah, DiNozzo, down here," Gibbs voice called up the stairs. "Hope that's pizza I smell."

"Of course it is," Tony whispered with a wink at Leah. They made their way down the stairs into the basement. In the last few years Tony had noticed that Gibbs had not built another boat. A few Christmas' ago Jackson had made some toys for the kids at the children's hospital, and then worked on birdhouses and other such projects when he was here hiding out from Paloma Reynosa. Gibbs himself had worked on Mike Franks' casket. As he hit the last step he could see that the former marine was now working on making a table and some chairs. "Hey boss, hope you don't mind that we stopped by."

Gibbs looked up and paused for a moment. He put his tools down and pushed his goggles up. "Are you going to stand there, DiNozzo? Or are you going to introduce me?"

Tony blinked back to life. "Oh right." He led Leah into the basement and put the pizza box down onto the worktable. "Um…Leah…this is…this is my boss, Jethro Gibbs. Boss, this is…well, I guess I can call her my girlfriend…Leah Dawson."

"Just call me Gibbs," the former marine said with a smile as he shook her hand. "It's about time Tony brought you around."

"He only has nice things to say about you," Leah informed him with a smile.

Gibbs chuckled and could instantly see why Tony had been attracted to her. She was beautiful, a smile that reached her eyes and while she might be small in stature, Gibbs could tell that she probably could hold her own when the time presented itself. It made him angry to think that Tony had almost missed this chance because he was struggling with his feelings for Ziva. He knew it wasn't his place, but there were times that he wanted to scream at the SFA that Ziva had left him and that no one was expecting him to pine away over her forever. It wasn't healthy. It wasn't natural. But Tony, being Tony, had to come to that conclusion on his own. "He's incredibly stubborn, you know?" the former marine cracked, glancing briefly at his second. "Actually, besides myself, he's the most stubborn person I know."

"Yes, I'm aware of how stubborn he is. Took him almost three months to call me," she laughed. And they fell into easy conversation from that point onward. They talked about her job, where she was from, where she went to school.

Tony's shoulders eased the more Leah got Gibbs to smile at her. It took a lot for people to warm up to his boss and for his boss to warm up to people. He had always trusted the former marine's judgment of character—most of the time. He had insisted that Gibbs was wrong about EJ. In the end the lead agent had been right. But he had not rubbed that information in Tony's face. So, he felt comfortable leaving Leah alone for a few moments with his boss while he went upstairs to hit the head.

Gibbs waited until Tony was gone before turning towards Leah. "Tony maybe stubborn and thickheaded at times, but he's got a good heart."

"Is this my 'don't you dare break his heart' lecture?"

"No. Hardly. Tony is an incredibly private person. I'm sure he hasn't told you half of what he's been through in the last few years."

"I haven't told him everything about myself yet, either, Agent Gibbs."

He sighed a little frustrated. It was hard for him to express his feelings in words. He had always been more of an action guy. And she was missing the point. "Rule 5."

She was now thoroughly confused. "Rule 5?" she repeated.

"Rule 5, you don't waste good. You're good, Leah. You're _good_ for Tony."

"And you don't want me to screw it up?"

"I don't want to see his heart broken again. He's been through plenty. Some of it at my own hands," Gibbs confessed.

Leah nodded her head slowly. She pushed her now empty beer bottle away from her and studied him for a moment. "He looks up to you—a lot. Almost like the father he never had. I don't know a lot about his childhood but I do know enough that his relationship with his dad is a fragile one."

Gibbs couldn't argue with her on that. Even though it appeared that Senior was trying to reconcile with his son the man still did not understand the gift he had. It was possible that Senior never would understand. "He's like a son to me," the marine said, softly. "And because of that I just want to see him happy."

Tony could be heard making his way down the stairs. He glanced at his watch. "It's getting late," he announced. "Sorry we took up your whole evening, boss." He helped Leah into her jacket. "See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, let's hope the rest of the week is quiet," Gibbs cracked.

"Like that's going to happen," Tony shot back with a smile. "Thanks boss, for just letting us drop in."

"It was nice to meet you Agent Gibbs," Leah added.

Gibbs just offered her a polite smile as the two made their way back upstairs to Tony's car. The senior field agent felt a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. It appeared that Gibbs liked Leah and vice versa. That's all he really wanted, was the two people that he cared for the most in the world to like each other. Sure, he cared about his team, but he didn't value their opinion as much as he valued Gibbs' opinion. And he was sure the team was going to love her once they got to know her—McGee seemed to like her.

Tony opened the passenger door for Leah and as she climbed in she kissed him tenderly. "Your boss isn't a man of very many words but I can tell he cares about you," she said, softly.

"Yeah. Sometimes he has a funny way of showing it," he said with a grin. "But he's the first person to really give a damn about me since my mom, so that means something."

Before he could close the car door, her timid voice stopped him, "Tony, he isn't the only one who gives a damn about you—I do too."

* * *

Jimmy Palmer took advantage of the MCRT being sidelined from active cases while McGee was on leave and ventured upstairs early that Thursday morning to see Tony.

The senior field agent was seated at his desk, eyes cast downward while he worked on some paperwork. Jimmy paused for a moment and studied him. It was easy to see, at least to him, that Tony had changed considerably since returning from Israel. His shoulders were more relaxed, he was genuinely trying to change his outlook on life. And Abby's news just last week that Tony was actually _dating_ someone had been gossip fodder at the water cooler for days. When he'd brought that information home to Breena she had insisted that Jimmy set up a double-date.

He wasn't sure if Tony would go for that, but at least he could home that night and let her know he'd at least _asked._

"Oh, hey, Tony," Jimmy greeted, clearing his throat as he stepped into the bullpen. "Still doing paperwork, huh?"

"Yeah. At least until Tim comes back next week," Tony replied, looking up at Jimmy. "Need something Palmer?"

Jimmy moved across the bullpen and grabbed McGee's chair. He pulled it towards Tony's desk. "Actually there is a question that I've been meaning to ask you since last week, I just haven't gotten around to doing it yet."

Tony nodded and continued to work on his paperwork. "Sure go ahead."

"So, um, I was talking to Breena…about…things...and with all this stuff going on with the adoption we really haven't you know, had a lot of time to go out," Jimmy started, nervously, noticing that Tony threw him a bewildered look. "And…well there's this great little Mexican restaurant that we absolutely love going to and we haven't been there in a really long time."

"Palmer? Was there a thinly veiled question in all that?" Tony squawked, eyes wide with confusion.

"He wants you to go out on a double date with him and Breena," Bishop said across the bullpen.

Tony and Jimmy looked up. Neither one of them had been aware that she had been listening since she had her earbuds in while going over the latest on the Parsa case. She noticed them both looking at her and she took the earbuds out.

Bishop's eyes shifted back and forth between the men, trying to figure out what social situation she had breeched. "It…it wasn't that obvious to you?"

"Palmer, why didn't you just come out and ask?" Tony snapped at the medical assistant.

"I didn't want to seem too pushy," Jimmy said with a shrug.

Tony scribbled something down onto a post-it note and handed it to Jimmy. "Here's Leah's cell number. Have Breena call her and they can set it up. Women are better at those things anyways."

Jimmy took the small piece of paper and stuffed it into his pocket. "So, um, that was a _yes_?"

"Uh-huh."

"Whoa. This is much more serious than Abby thought."

"How serious did she have it at?" Tony asked, curiously.

Jimmy smiled, anxiously. "Well, she had it maybe lasting a few dates but that was it. But…but obviously you have…other ideas I guess."

Tony shrugged. "I took her to meet Gibbs last night."

"What? You did?"

"I'm guessing this whole _you_ dating thing is kind of a rarity?" Bishop asked, quirking an eyebrow in an innocent gesture.

Jimmy laughed. "Tony? Dating a rarity? Hardly."

Tony glared at him and the younger man sputtered a cough to cover up his laugh. "Doesn't Ducky need you?"

"Not really. No active cases at the moment."

Gibbs blew into the bullpen then, coffee in hand and went to his desk.

Tony looked at him hopefully. "Gear up, boss?"

"Nope," Gibbs said with a shake of his head. "We're still off active rotation until McGee's back. Speaking of McGee…heard about your performance in the coffee shop yesterday with the lawyer."

"Sorry, boss," Tony said with a wince. "I…I lost my temper."

Gibbs waved him off. "Don't worry about it. Made me proud that you pissed him off that much."

Tony grinned. "Thanks, boss, although I doubt I've heard the last of him."

"Yeah. You probably haven't, DiNozzo."

* * *

Tim watched as the nurse helped Delilah sit up in bed and then slid her tray over so she could eat her dinner. He'd choked down his own meal about thirty minutes ago while she had been taking a nap. Right now he had the news on and he'd be leaving for the night soon.

Delilah was in better spirits since coming to the rehab center but she still had her moments. Tim reasoned that she was going to have them throughout the duration of her recovery and her adjustment to being paralyzed. Her parents had already gone over to her apartment and taken note on things that needed to be changed, and one of her superiors at the D.O.D had come to talk to her about her job still being in tact when she was ready to return. These things seemed to set her mind at ease and Tim knew that it was time to go back to NCIS.

He was starting to get a little bored and Delilah was getting stronger every day.

"This stuff is disgusting," she grumbled, choking down her own dinner. "I'll be happy to eat real food again."

"Tony's offered to smuggle in a pizza," Tim said with a smile.

"I might take him up on the offer."

"You realize that Tony and pizza comes with a movie, right?"

Delilah smiled and nodded her head. "Yes. I do. And I'm okay with that. Besides, I really want to meet this new woman in his life. She sounds interesting from what you've told me."

Tim had to agree. She wasn't like any woman that Tony had dated before, at least to the young agent's knowledge. Tim had never really met Tony's girlfriends in the past. "You want to know something funny? I never, ever thought I'd see Tony try at a real relationship. I just...always assumed that he was going to be a bachelor for the rest of his life. It...it was a life style I thought he was happy with. Now, I'm not sure he was happy at all."

"Lots of people are good at hiding things, Tim," Delilah said pushing her plate away and giving up on her dinner.

"Yeah," Tim said with a sigh and smile, "And Tony's perfected the craft."

He grabbed her hand and gave it a kiss. She smiled at him. Tim had been doing a lot of hiding as well since the drone attack, and thanks to Tony's encouragement he'd learned that it was alright to lean on other people. For the first time Tim realized that he was changing along with Tony-and was okay with that.


	11. Double Dates and Problems

 

 

 

It might have been snowing outside, but inside the restaurant it was a tropical, Mexican paradise

Tony was not familiar with double dates. He never stayed with anyone long enough to go out on a double date and he wasn't sure if this one was going well. Leah seemed to be enjoying herself, smiling and laughing and asking questions to get to know Jimmy and Breena. He was just happy to be out of the office, away from the tension between Gibbs and Bishop.

Of course, the easy feelings may be explained by the two margaritas he'd had to drink that night.

"So, Tony says that you're an archelogogist. What do you study?" Breena inquired.

"Mostly ancient civilizations, like Egypt and Greece," Leah replied.

"Wow, so how often do you go overseas?" Jimmy said.

Leah shrugged her shoulders, still giving them that smile that had melted Tony's exterior over the course of their morning coffee shop chats. "It depends on the project I'm working on. I haven't been to Egypt yet, but I've done several digs in Greece and in England studying Anglo-Saxon artifacts."

Jimmy grinned. "We kind of have a similar job."

"Palmer, you investigate dead bodies. How is that similar?"

"Actually, I've studied a couple of mummies. Those would count as dead bodies. _And_ some of them were murdered."

"So, if Ducky is ever looking for a new assistant..."

At first Jimmy laughed but then he got a serious look on his face, "Wait? Doctor Mallard is looking to _replace_ me?"

Tony chuckled while Breena assured Jimmy that his job was safe. Even after all these years it was pretty easy still to bait Jimmy. McGee had even learned over the years, but their lovable medical assistant was always more naive and probably would never change. Tony was okay with that. He liked Jimmy just the way he was-the innocent, eternal optimist. Every NCIS team needed one of those. "Just messing with you, Jimmy," he said, kissing Leah's hand. "Sorry, it's been a long day."

"Yeah. I heard. Did you get him yet?" Jimmy asked, his eyes searching Tony's face.

"Him? Who's him?" Breena inquired, innocently.

Neither man made any indication they were going to talk about it. Even though it was a highly publicized case, they needed to remain tight lipped about it. Tony sighed, and leaned back in his chair. He gave Leah's hand a squeeze. "Not yet. Bishop feels like we're getting close." _Too bad Gibbs has kind of slammed the door on her helping us out._ Something had happened between the boss and their newest addition and he was sure it was something about Parsa.

Tony would happy when this whole thing was done. It was obvious that it was weighing heavily on Tim's mind since the agent had returned to work that week. And Tony didn't blame him. After all, it was because of Parsa that Delilah was paralyzed.

Jimmy must have seen the conflicted look int the SFA's eyes. "Don't worry, Tony, you'll get him."

"Sure. I just hope that we get him sooner rather than later," Tony countered, taking a sip of his drink.

"If you guys are going to talk about the case, can Breena and I talk something else?" Leah asked, teasingly. "I want to hear more about the baby they're adopting, don't you?"

Tony gave her an easy smile. Yes, he would much rather discuss babies and adoption and happy things than terrorists. And then did, for a few hours. In fact, Tony was surprised at how late it got by the time they agreed to call it night. He offered to pay and shooed the Palmers out the door practically, with them protesting mildly all the way, but he figured he wasn't about to adopt a baby and had the few extra dollars to spend.

As he pulled out the money from his wallet, something fell onto the table. He wasn't paying much attention to it, too busy handing the waitress their bill but then Leah cleared her throat and asked, "Tony? Who's that a picture of?"

"What?"

"This photo fell out of your wallet when you took out the money. Who is it?"

Tony looked up to see her holding a picture up and instantly he felt sick to his stomach. It was Ziva. In Paris. His favorite photo of her. It had resided in his wallet ever since that trip. "Her name is Ziva. She was...she was my... partner."

Leah turned the photograph around, her blue eyes studying it. They had obviously talked about his partner, when they had first met at the coffee shop. He had explained to her why he had changed shops, that his old one reminded him too much of her. But he had never said her name. Leah had always figured that there was something more that went on between the partners but she never asked about it. Now, as she looked at the picture in her hand, at the exotic and enchanting woman, Leah realized that Tony had not completely let go. The photo was worn and well loved, like it had been looked at over and over again. Perhaps, during late nights when he was longing for her, or when he found himself missing her. And this hurt, badly. "She's...she's very beautiful."

He didn't know what to say. It was obvious how much that photograph hurt her, but he didn't know how to broach the topic. So, instead he grabbed the photo and simply slid it back into his wallet. Instantly he could feel the mood change from carefree and easy to tense and heavy. "So, do you...do you want to go back to my place?"

"No, thank you. It's getting rather late anyways. Maybe another time?"

"Alright. Can I at least drive you home?"

"You should go home, Tony. It's been a long day for both of us. I can get a cab."

_If that wasn't blatant rejection, I don't know what is,_ Tony thought with disappointment. And perhaps he did deserve it. Ever since the hunt for Parsa had started to heat up again he'd been thinking a lot about Ziva. Leah didn't deserve that kind of treatment. She deserved his undivided attention. "Do you think we can do coffee tomorrow?"

Her forced smile broke his heart. "Of course. I have two lectures tomorrow. I'll need one by the end."

"Great. There's a nice little shop near the Navy Yard we go to all the time," Tony said, kissing her cheek.

As he pulled back and saw the distant look in her eyes, Tony knew she wasn't going to keep her promise. And his heart broke some more.

* * *

Tim knew that something was up with Tony, he just never got around to asking it until the end of the week. Getting Benham Parsa had taken over all of their lives. But now that he was dead, Tim suddenly remembered that something seemed to be bothering his partner.

After watching a movie with Delilah at the rehab center, and promising her that the next time they did he'd bring Tony and Leah, Tim had driven out to Tony's apartment. As he drove he thought more and more about Tony's odd behavior that week. He should have known something was wrong when the SFA had brought up soaking in tubs and bath salts. "Hey, Tony," he called as he knocked on the heavy apartment door, "you there?"

"Tim? What are you doing here?" Tony asked as the door swung open. "Everything okay with Delilah?"

"Yeah. Everything's fine...thanks...thanks for asking. Can I come in?"

"Sure."

Tim stepped into the apartment and Tony closed the door behind him. "I'm surprised you aren't out with Leah tonight."

Tony shrugged. "We tried to make plans but well, they kind of fell through. She's getting ready to go to Egypt in a few weeks so...most of her energy and time are focused on that."

"Palmer really liked her the other night. I heard him telling Abby he thinks she's a good fit for you."

"Yeah. She was great with them. Hit it off Breena."

Tim was shocked by the lack of enthusiasm in Tony's voice. If he truly wanted to change, then progressing his relationship with Leah seemed natural. And his friends liking her should only be helping matters. "What happened, Tony? You don't seem excited about this, and, well, you should be. She really is good for you. Even Gibbs thinks so."

Tony rubbed his hands over his tired face and plopped down onto his sofa. Tim noticed the take-out containers scattered around the coffee table, the open laptop, and the television on ESPN softly in the background. "Tony," he urged again. "Come on. You helped me earlier this week, let me help you."

"I'm not sure you can, McGee."

"Try me."

"Leah found a picture of Ziva in my wallet."

"Oh. Now it makes sense."

Tony laughed, sarcastically. "She pretended that it didn't bother her, but I could see it in her eyes. She knew. She knew how I felt about Ziva in the past, she knew that there was a reason I carried my partner's picture around in my wallet. And instead of addressing right then and there, what do I do? I put the photo back into my wallet and ask her to meet me for coffee the next day. She hasn't talked to me since, except a quick text message canceling that coffee date."

Tim dropped down onto the sofa besides his partner. "Maybe she just...I don't know...needs time to process." _That's what Delilah called it, right?_

"Process? I don't know what there is to process, Tim. I have a personal photograph of another woman in my wallet."

"Well, when you say it like that, it sounds bad."

"I don't...I don't know what to do here, Tim. This really is uncharted water for me."

It was uncharted water for the both of them, Tim thought. Tony had always been confident around women, but he never really treated them right and he certainly had not been looking for a commitment. Tim, on the other hand, had always been open to commitment, but had never found the right girl, thus his insecurities when it came to Delilah. For what it was worth, his friends were trying to help him with that relationship-even Tony-and Tim felt like he owed it to his partner to return the favor. "Really? I think the answer is simple here, Tony."

Tony glanced at him, his green eyes sad and tired. "Yeah? Enlighten me."

"Are you serious about this relationship? Do you...do you care about her?"

"Yeah."

"Then...then you just need to _let go._ "

"Let go, huh?"

Tim nodded his head and gestured for Tony to give him his wallet. The SFA reluctantly did so. Tim opened it and pulled out the photo, choking up slightly when he glanced at Ziva's face. It was the first time he'd seen it since she had left. He hadn't been able to look at any old photographs that he had of the team. Gently he shoved the photo into his pocket. "No one is asking that you erase her from your memory, but photos in wallets, those things suggest you're clinging to her."

Tony smiled, sadly. He didn't feel as empty as he thought he was going to feel giving up that photo and now he knew what exactly had to be done in order to get his relationship back on track with Leah. He reached out and clasped Tim's shoulder. "Thanks, Tim."

"No problem. That's what friends are for."

* * *

"Snow might have let up, huh , but the cold hasn't," Cori said with a smile early on Monday morning.

"I'm from Boston so I guess it doesn't bother me that much," Leah said with a smile back.

Cori handed the young woman her coffee. "So, how is it going with Agent DiNozzo? I feel like I kind of matched you two up since you met in my coffee line. Crazy!"

Leah bit down nervously on her lower lip and mutely nodded her head. She paid for her coffee and turned on her heel to head back out into the cold. She was glad that Cori had decided not to talk more about Tony. It still hurt that he had that photo of Ziva in his wallet and she didn't know how to broach the subject with him. He didn't seem bothered by it and had just swept it under the rug by quickly hiding the photo back in his wallet and asking her to coffee the next day. _And you were not much better saying yes and then canceling on him._ "Ugh, I suck at this relationship stuff," she muttered as she made her way towards her car. "Really, really suck at it."

"Ms. Dawson, good I was hoping you'd be here!"

"Do I...do I know you?"

The middle aged woman, who Leah was sure at one point in her life had been beautiful, stepped forward. She had soulless brown eyes and dark circles residing under them. When she tried to smile at the young woman, it was filled with such pain that Leah felt her own heart clench. "No, no...my name is Debbie Evans. I was wondering...I was wondering if you could help me."

Leah found it was an odd place for a stranger to be asking for a favor but the look on the woman's face compelled her to explore the option. "Sure...I guess I could at least try."

"Oh, thank you, thank you. You don't know how much this will mean to me and my husband."

"Mrs. Evans, I'm kind of on a time schedule here, I have a lecture in an hour."

"I'm sorry. I'd hate for you to miss that or disappoint your students. Anyways...my daughter...my daughter was murdered four years ago...her killer...his parents knew he was violent and did nothing about it. I need...I need a testimony on our behalf," Debbie said, her eyes bright with unshed tears.

Leah was confused. She was no expert on criminology like a friend of hers at George Washington. Why was this women here asking her for a testimony? "Mrs. Evans...I'm an archeologist. I'm not sure I can help you."

Debbie nodded and reached for Leah's wrist, latching on. "But you are in a relationship with one of the agents that investigated my daughter's murder. We need testimony from him to take our case to court. Even though he killed others, those are not touchable and we cannot bring them as evidence. Agent DiNozzo interviewed my daughter's killer just two weeks ago. He can testify to the killers state of mind! He can tell the judge that the man showed no remorse!"

"Mrs. Evans, why haven't you asked Tony?"

"My lawyer has. NCIS has refused to testify."

"Then, I'm sorry, ma'am, there's nothing I can do for you."

Leah went to pull her wrist back and move on, but a feral look came over the other woman's face, and her jaw tightened considerably. Instantly Leah knew she was trouble.

Debbie's grip on her wrist tightened and she yanked hard on it. "What don't those people get? They _ruined_ my life! The least they can do is help me now!" She glared at Leah. "Your boyfriend doesn't deserve that badge! It should have been taken from him when he didn't do his job four years ago to find my baby's killer!"

"I'm sure...I'm sure that NCIS did everything they could," Leah gasped through the pain. "But...I can't...I don't know the case. I don't...I don't know the reasons why Tony will not testify."

"Bitch," the furious older woman snapped, finally releasing Leah's wrist and giving her a shove.

Leah's coffee went flying from her hand and she impacted with the icy, snowy concrete. When she glanced up into the bright sunlight she couldn't see were Debbie Evans was, nor could she see the friendly man that had come to her aide. Her wrist hurt like hell and now so didn't her tail bone.

The man helped her to her feet and steadied her. Leah wasn't surprised that Debbie was gone.

"Miss? Are you alright? I tried to stop that woman but she was fast," the Good Samaritan said.

"I...I'm okay," Leah gritted out through clenched teeth. "Bruises mostly."

"Do you want me to call Metro?"

_What for? Debbie is an emotionally damaged woman. She never would have done this if she wasn't, would she?_ Leah thought, fleetingly, before she shook her head. "No. But can you...my cell phone is in my pocket...can you call my boyfriend? I...I need to see him."

 


	12. Desperate People are Dangerous

By the time Tony arrived at the coffee house, EMT's were putting a splint on Leah's wrist. Cori was hovering nearby, asking if she needed anything and Leah was smiling through her obvious pain, assuring the barista that she was fine.

Tony had dropped everything when the man who'd helped Leah after Mrs. Evans' assault had called. He'd been in the middle of a briefing with the other SFA's and cited a family emergency when the call had come in. He didn't think there were be any backlash from the SFA's but he knew Gibbs would be after him when he didn't return on time from the briefing.

At this point, he didn't care. He was too angry to even think about what his boss was going to say to him later. Someone had physically assaulted his girlfriend and had tried to use her to get to him. Tony was fiercely protective of those he cared about and Debbie Evans had crossed a line.

"Hi, Agent DiNozzo," Cori greeted him, anxiously. "I've been making sure that the EMT's take good care of Ms. Dawson."

"Thanks, Cori, you're a doll," Tony said with a tight smile. "I'll take it from here."

"I'm _fine,_ _"_ Leah snapped, throwing him a false glare. "I've had worse injuries on falls I've taken on digs."

The EMT working on her wrist looked up at Tony, and said, "She's lucky it's not broken. That woman had a good hold on it and twisted it good."

Tony scowled at her, making no attempt to hide his anger. "You should call Metro, Leah. Assault is a crime."

Leah looked away, doing her best to avoid eye contact with him. "I feel bad for her. She's desperate, Tony."

"Exactly. Desperate people are dangerous. You should listen to me. I know."

"Can we just forget it? I just want...I just want to go home."

"You need to go to the ER first, Ms. Dawson," the EMT said. "A doctor is going to want to do some x-rays on your wrist."

Leah closed her eyes and nodded her head. She looked exhausted and deflated to Tony. He didn't blame her. She'd been attacked by a crazy woman that morning. These things were not something she dealt with on a daily basis, not like he did. "I'll make sure she gets there," he told the EMT.

The EMT smiled and thanked him before packing up his equipment and leaving. Tony grabbed Leah's coat and held it out to her. She slowly stood and put it on. Gently he took by the elbow and led her out to the car. He noticed that she winced when she sat down and he felt more anger surging through his veins. If the Evans were mad at him, fine, but they should come after him not go after someone that he cared about. And just how did Debbie Evans know this was the coffee shop that Leah went to every morning? He was pretty sure the lawyer, Al Ford had something to do with that.

Did he have a criminal case against the lawyer? Probably not. But a call into the Washington bar wouldn't hurt. It might not lead to anything but at least it would make Ford squirm a little.

Tony pulled his cell phone out before they got on their way to the ER and texted, _Look up Al Ford's phone records. Both landline and cell._

"What are you doing?" Leah asked, softly, watching him as he texted.

"Sending McGee a text."

"Why?"

"Want him to check on something for me."

Leah leaned back into the seat and rested her head against the cold glass. She had a sneaky feeling that Tony was looking into Debbie Evans but she didn't say anything. He seemed adamant that the woman be charged. "You don't have to take me to the emergency room you know. I can drive myself."

Tony looked at her and sighed. "And who's going to drive you home after they gave you painkillers?"

"Cabs are perfectly fine modes of transportation."

"Leah..." he started to say but his phone signaled McGee's answer had arrived. Tony looked at it. _Sure, but w_ _hat am I looking for?_

"Tony, I'm sorry. I shouldn't...I shouldn't have had that man call you," Leah blurted. "I was...I was confused and...scared I think."

He saw the cold mask dissolve away. Her eyes filled with tears. Putting his cell phone away, Tony leaned over and stroked her cheek, comfortingly. "Leah. This isn't your fault. Mrs. Evans should never have gotten you involved. Her beef is with me and NCIS and I'm sorry that you got caught in the middle of it."

She looked at him, tears making paths on her pale cheeks. "She mentioned that her daughter...was murdered."

"Yes. Left a bar one night with a man and disappeared. NCIS investigated her disappearance."

"So...you never found her killer?"

"We weren't even sure if she was dead."

Leah looked down, her eyes darting back and forth in thought. "Mrs. Evans said you interviewed the killer two weeks ago."

Tony wiped at her tears. "Yes. Metro contacted us two weeks ago. A man dying in prison from cancer confessed to the crime and led them to her body. Gibbs and I went to interrogate the suspect so we could close the case. Suspect died the day...the day I came over and we watched _Top Gun._ I don't blame the Evans for being angry, Leah. They have every right. Their daughter laid at the bottom of the river for four years and we never arrested the man responsible. He was serving time for killing his brother. In their eyes there wasn't any justice."

"It's a sad story," Leah whispered bring her watery eyes to him. "How can I make it sadder for Debbie by pressing charges?"

"She _hurt_ you," Tony ground out, his anger palpable.

"Tony, _please,_ just...just take me to the ER," Leah pleaded with him. "I want to get this over with and just...move on."

"Fine. I'll take you to the ER but you're spending the night at my place," Tony told her, firmly as he started the car up.

Leah looked at him and bit down her lower lip. "It's just a sprained wrist. I don't need a baby-sitter."

Tony shook his head. "Not baby-sitting you. I'm going to make you a fine Italian dinner and then treat you to one of America's cinema classics- _The Breakfast Club._ " _  
_

"You wouldn't be taking me back to your place because you want to protect me, now would you?"

"Maybe I am."

"Don't you think you're being a little overprotective?"

 _No._ Tony thought sternly as he drove the car along, not making eye contact with her. _Desperate people do desperate things. I don't want you getting more than a sprained wrist, Leah._ "You haven't seen me overprotective yet."

Leah wrapped her good arm around his right one. "It's rather cute, you being overprotective. You don't need to protect me but I like to know you want to."

Tony shook his head. "Leah. It's my _job_ to protect you."

"Your job? As what? An NCIS agent? Or my boyfriend?"

"Both."

Suddenly the damn photograph that had fallen out of his wallet at dinner didn't matter anymore. Leah could see his feelings for her in his eyes and she felt awful for giving him the cold shoulder because she was hurting. Tony had been hurting too. God, she wished she knew how to bring the topic up but the words just died on her lips. Instead, she offered a little smile. "Well then, I guess I'm lucky to have such a fine federal agent _and_ boyfriend looking out for me."

* * *

Gibbs returned from a mid-day coffee run to find Tony still among the missing. He found this strange because he had seen Balboa's SFA right before he'd left for his coffee. Surely their briefing was done and Tony should be back working at his desk. "McGee. Where's DiNozzo?"

"I haven't got a clue boss," McGee said looking up at the lead agent. "He texted me thirty minutes ago to look into Al Ford's phone records but he never told me what I was looking for or why."

"Did you find anything?" Gibbs asked, moving towards McGee's desk.

McGee shook his head. "Nothing out of the ordinary. Most of his phone calls are to the Evans' and to a private investigator based out of Baltimore. Other than that nothing screamed out to me. I'm kind of confused, boss, why Tony had me do this."

Gibbs nodded his head. He tended to agree but Tony had to have had his reasons. He titled his head towards the computer. "Trace DiNozzo's cell."

"Sure thing, boss," the younger agent said, quickly getting to work. It didn't take him long to trace the signal on Tony's cell since it was still on, but he felt his stomach do about thirty flip-flops when he discovered the location. "He's...he's at Georgetown University Hospital."

"Son of bitch," Gibbs cursed. "Call him."

McGee picked up his desk phone and dialed Tony's cell. It began to ring and he put the receiver down to put on speaker.

Tony picked up after two rings. " _Yeah, Tim?"_

 _"_ Listen, I looked up Ford's records for you. But I don't know what I'm looking for. Care to fill me in?"

" _Debbie Evans approached Leah outside of Capital Coffeehouse. She wanted Leah to...persuade me to testify."_

Gibbs felt his gut tingling. If Tony was at the hospital did that mean Leah was hurt? He took a long sip of his coffee, finishing it and then dumping the empty cup into McGee's trash can. "We traced your cell to Georgetown University Hospital. Mrs. Evans hurt Leah?"

Tony paused, obviously a bit surprised to hear Gibbs' talking, and then a curt response, " _Sprained wrist and bruised tailbone."_

 _"_ You think the lawyer had something to do with it, don't you?" Gibbs questioned.

" _Yeah. How else did Mrs. Evans know where to find Leah,"_ Tony replied.

Gibbs gripped the sides of McGee's desk. Tony had told him about finding the lawyer _ambushing_ the younger agent at the very coffee shop that Mrs. Evans had accosted Leah at. "What time did the assault happen?"

" _Around nine,"_ Tony said.

"Debbie Evans last called Al Ford at nine-fifteen. Probably not coincidence," McGee said, looking at the phone records.

"McGee. I want you to pay a visit to Delilah at the rehab. Bring a photo of Debbie Evans _and_ Al Ford. Make sure security knows what they look like. DiNozzo. You stick to Leah like glue."

Gibbs slammed his finger down onto the phone and disconnected the call. McGee sprung into action immediately and he knew Tony would stay with Leah until this whole mess was sorted out. With Bishop off at FLET-C training for the day, the team was off rotation and he could make sure that his team wasn't hurt by this woman and her lawyer anymore.

* * *

Leon Vance had just hung up with the SecNav when Gibbs blew into the office with a scowl on his face.

"You didn't come up here to tell me that another one of your ex-wives is here, did you?" Vance cracked, half-joking, half-serious.

"No. Debbie Evans physically assaulted the woman that Tony is seeing," Gibbs ground out.

Vance's jaw tightened. "The mother of Jennifer Evans?" _The same one that dressed my agents down not once, but twice?_ "Why the hell is she in Washington and what does Tony's girlfriend have anything to do with this?"

Gibbs tossed the Director a tight smile. "Mr. and Mrs. Evans have been convinced by a lawyer that they can win a wrongful death suit against the killers' family. They want Tony to testify on the suspect's state of mind when Tony and I interviewed him two weeks ago."

Vance could see where this was going. "Let me guess, DiNozzo said _no."_

 _"_ Told the lawyer that he didn't want to drag NCIS through the mud anymore than we already were the first time," Gibbs replied.

"You can tell him I appreciate the gesture but it appears the Evans do not."

"No. Mrs. Evans approached Leah Dawson outside of coffee shop. Apparently she wanted Ms. Dawson to convince Tony to testify."

The Director stood and straightened his suit coat. "How did Mrs. Evans even know where to find Ms. Dawson? Better yet, how does she even know her name?"

Gibbs chuckled. "What do you think, Leon? Listen, the lawyer's already pulled these kind of tactics. He followed Tony to Leah's apartment, he approached Tim at the coffee shop and admitted to Tony that he had a private investigator look into them. McGee found records of phone calls between the lawyer and a PI in Baltimore. I'd be willing to bet he told Mrs. Evans exactly where to find Ms. Dawson."

Vance sighed, heavily. "We have no way to prove it. Although, I do have a friend who is a member of the bar. I could place a call and put a bug in their ear."

"Good," Gibbs said before leaving, "let's make the lawyer squirm a little."


	13. It's Personal

Delilah was interested why Tim was still at the rehab center, because it was getting late in the afternoon and he had yet to make any mention that he had to get back to work. She had thought that after they had eaten lunch and he would said good-bye and gone back to NCIS. It wasn't that she didn't mind the company. It just seemed odd. "I thought you went back to work this week?"

Tim looked away from the television screen. "I did."

"So, why are you still here? Gibbs isn't looking for you?" she inquired, raising an eyebrow in interest.

"He, um, he asked that I stay with you," Tim answered.

"Stay with me?"

Tim shook his head. "It's not really important. Don't want to worry you."

Delilah glared at him. "Tim, what's going on. You show up out of the blue and are now telling me that Agent Gibbs wants you to stay here with me. I thought NCIS caught Parsa?"

"We did. Parsa's dead."

"Then what's with the protection detail. I work with the D.O.D, I know what this is."

Tim sighed. "It's this cold case. It's just...it's not going away. Now the family is pursuing this wrongful death suit and on the one hand I can't blame them but they've hired this really sleazy lawyer that is insistent that either me or Tony testify. Seems to think our testimony will win him the case."

Delilah nodded her head. "I heard about that case on the news. The young woman who died, her parents are suing the killer's family."

"Yes," Tim said, giving his head a little shake. "Tony told the lawyer he wouldn't testify. But he wouldn't take no for an answer."

"So? What has he done to try to get Tony to cooperate?"

"Follow him. Hire a private investigator to trace us. Pretty sure that Mrs. Evans learned where Leah goes for coffee everyday from him."

She was starting to understand why Gibbs had ordered Tim to stay with her. "Something happen to Tony's girlfriend?"

His pale green eyes flickered towards the television screen, briefly, before looking back at her with a grave expression. "She was assaulted when she refused to help get Tony to testify."

"And Gibbs was afraid I was next."

"Listen, Mrs. Evans sprained Leah's wrist she twisted it to so hard. We're not sure what she's going to do next."

Delilah's fingers curled around her blanket. She had spent her entire career chasing after people that were violent and dangerous and she knew that Tim was very much aware of what this woman, if pushed just right, was capable of. Leah had been lucky it had just been a sprained wrist because the next time Mrs. Evans lost control, Delilah was certain it was going to be much, much worse.

* * *

"Tony...who was Kate?"

Out of the blue Leah hit him with that question. Tony had thought she had fallen into a pain killer induced slumber on his sofa after they ate dinner, but apparently she was in a semi-coherent state and heard him talking to his goldfish when he had fed them. "Why do you ask?" he deflected, nervously.

Lazily her eyes opened and she smiled, wearily at him. "One fish is named after Ziva, the other one is named Kate. Now, humans are creatures of habit so...I'm assuming that Kate was someone important to you just like Ziva was."

Tony took a deep breath and sat down on the edge of the sofa. He reached out and brushed the pieces of hair that had fallen and were covering her face. "Kate...Kate the goldfish is named after...Special Agent Caitlin Todd. She was my partner...nine years ago. She was...she was killed in the line of duty by a rogue Mossad agent."

"I'm sorry, Tony. I...I didn't mean to bring up painful memories," Leah said, her eyes filling with remorse.

"Don't worry about it," Tony said, smiling sadly at her. "I've...I've made peace with it."

Leah's eyes flickered towards the fish bowl where the two goldfish happily were swimming around. It was hard to believe that naming a fish after someone that had died making peace, but she didn't question it. "Were you...were you with her when she died?"

Tony continued to run his fingers through her hair. He had barely talked about that day with the shrinks at NCIS or with Rachel Cranston-he'd even refused to talk about it with people that he considered close to him. "Yes," he whispered. "I was standing right behind her when she was shot, by a sniper, through the head."

As he looked Leah in the eyes, saw her empathy for him, he relived that horrible moment again. Kate lying on the rooftop, just mere moments before Ari's bullet ended her. _For once, DiNozzo's right. Wow, I'd thought I'd die-_ and then the bullet tore through her, his face was covered in her blood and he was left standing there, torn to about a hundred, thousand pieces. "Gibbs and I were with her," he added, trying to shake the awful memory, "Tim...thank God, he wasn't there to witness it. He never had to see Kate lying in her own blood. He was just a kid back then."

"What was she like?" Leah asked, intrigued by his opening up about his past like this. "Would she have liked me?"

"Oh yeah, she would have loved you," Tony replied, smiling. "Mostly because you've forced me to grow up. Kate always pushed me to be better, because that's just who she was. She saw something in me." _And she never got the chance to tell me._ "She would drive me crazy, but I always knew I could trust her to have my back."

Leah smiled, whimsically at him. "Always good to have that in your line of work."

Tony reached out and pressed his lips to hers gently. When he pulled back, he whispered, "You really should rest. You've had quite the exciting day."

"But we haven't watched the movie yet."

"Yeah and it's useless fighting the percocet."

"That's what you gave me with dinner? You told me it was Tylenol with codeine!"

Tony chuckled and kissed her gently. "You wouldn't have taken it if I'd told you the truth. Go on, go to sleep."

Leah scowled at him. "I'm mad at you," she said sticking out her tongue.

"Yeah," he said laughing as she finally gave into the exhaustion, "I know."

* * *

Gibbs reached out and gently knocked on Tony's door. Vance had followed through on his phone call to the Washington bar and the team leader himself had driven up to Baltimore to speak to the P.I. All in all what he found wasn't that shocking and nothing that both himself and Tony did not suspect. Now it was in the Washington bar's hands since Leah wouldn't press criminal charges against Debbie Evans and the case was out of NCIS jurisdiction. Tony probably wasn't going to be happy with that, Gibbs realized, but it was what was and there was nothing that they could do about it.

Tony opened the door to his apartment and glanced at Gibbs, his green eyes narrowing slightly. "We got a case, boss?"

"Nope. Just wanted to stop by and chat," Gibbs said. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah, sure," Tony replied, allowing Gibbs into his domain.

Gibbs stepped inside. He noticed immediately that Leah was asleep on the sofa, curled up underneath a gigantic Ohio State fleece blanket. Behind him he heard the door click shut. Tony gestured for him to retreat into the kitchen. Gibbs did so where he noticed the pots and pans in the sink. Had Tony cooked for Leah? _You always manage to find ways to surprise me, DiNozzo, even after all these years._

Tony was opening his cabinets and looking for the coffee that he kept just for when Gibbs stopped by. "What do you want to chat about?"

"I went to Baltimore to see the P.I," Gibbs announced casually.

"And?" Tony inquired, finding the coffee and beginning to prepare it.

"He told me that Al Ford needed him to dig up dirt on you and McGee," Gibbs said.

Tony felt his jaw tighten. "So, was he the one to give up the information of where Leah lived?"

Gibbs nodded. "Yes. He used your cell records to trace her number. Ford probably followed her, or both of you, to the coffee shop before he approached McGee."

"And when those tactics didn't work he told Debbie Evans where to find Leah," Tony hissed, slamming two mugs down onto the counter. "He has to know that that woman is a time bomb, boss, just waiting to go off. What happened today, that was just a preview of what's to come."

"I know. I'm hoping that the Washington bar investigates and finds out something to remove him."

"Before or after Debbie Evans kills or seriously hurts someone?"

Gibbs noticed the rage in Tony's green eyes. The team leader had felt that same rage earlier in the day when he'd found out what had happened to Leah. "Hopefully before."

Tony leaned against the counter and let out a heavy sigh. "I feel helpless, Gibbs. This entire situation is out of my control. I can't arrest the lawyer, I can't arrest Mrs. Evans, and I can't convince Leah to press charges so Metro will. She feels bad for the woman and doesn't want to cause any more trouble for her. I tried to reason with her, tried to tell her that it wasn't right what Mrs. Evans did, but she just wants to forget about it. But I can't, boss. That woman hurt Leah."

For a second the former marine listened to the grumbling sounds of the percolator. Tony had always been empathetic, even if he hadn't always shown it, but this glint in his eyes, this fierce desire to protect, Gibbs only saw that when the person in trouble was someone that Tony cared about. "And we're going to make sure it doesn't happen again."

"You can't promise that, Gibbs," Tony drawled with a sad laugh. "This job...there's always someone out to get you."

"Do you think Leah isn't aware of that?"

"We've only been dating a few weeks...how could she be?"

Gibbs shook his head. "She's smart Tony. She knows that your job comes with risks. Listen she called you after it happened-she wanted to see you. If someone that wasn't aware of the risks had been attacked like that today-she would have run in the other direction. She thinks your relationship is worth the risks."

Tony rubbed his hands over his face. "God, it's been so long since I've been in any kind of relationship I forgot how hard it is."

"When you find the right woman, Tony, it's worth it."

"Hey," Leah's voice said, interrupting them, "is that coffee I smell?"

Tony responded by pulling out a third mug and placing it on the counter. "Sleep well?"

Leah shot him a mock glare. "Yes. But I'm still mad at you."

"How does your wrist feel?" he asked, smiling.

"It doesn't hurt, if that's what you really want to know."

"So, the percocet helped."

"Yes," she grumbled.

Tony reached for the coffee pot and poured a cup for all three of them. "Good. I'll give you another before you go to bed later."

Leah rolled her eyes at him. "Tony, I've been with you for the entire day and nothing else has happened. I think I can go home."

"Oh no," Gibbs said shaking his head at her, "You're staying right here and tomorrow you're coming into NCIS."

"Are you guys always this suspicious? Do you always automatically go to the worse case scenario?"

"Yes," both Gibbs and Tony answered at the same time.

Her face conveyed a look that she wanted to argue with them, but she put her hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay, I'll stay here and go with Tony tomorrow. But I have a lecture at eleven, so one of you boys is coming with me. I don't care how bored you'll be."

Gibbs watched a horrified look quickly pass over Tony's face and he chuckled. "Guess you're going back to school, DiNozzo."

"This is payback for the percocet isn't it?" Tony asked, glaring slightly at Leah.

She smiled at him sweetly before taking her mug and retreating back into the living room. Tony glanced at Gibbs with a beseeching look, but all the team leader did was laugh and follow Leah into the living room with his own mug. He knew that in the coming days there probably wasn't going to be a lot to laugh about.


	14. Flames

Tony couldn't remember the last time he was in a classroom. For the most part the lecture hall at George Washington University was similar to ones that he'd sat in at Ohio State. Rows of small chairs and desks, musty smell. However, there was an interactive white board that Leah was uploading her lecture slides onto that McGee would probably drool over. She could write on it, she could use the internet and show videos. _Yeah, we definitely didn't have that when I was an undergrad._

He'd situated himself towards the back of the lecture hall, behind the one hundred or so under-graduate students that were eagerly taking notes. She had made him promise not to fall asleep, and so far he hadn't. But he didn't find her boring at all. She was passionate about her work, she was engaging with her students, and she was pretty attractive to look at in a sleek business suit. Not to mention he was actually learning things about Greece that he'd never known before.

Of course, he had the three fraternity brothers sitting in front of him keeping him entertained as well. They were good at pretending to be taking notes, passing a notebook between them, and squirmed when Leah called them out.

"Mister Smith do you have something to say to the whole class?" she asked with a coy smile.

"Just that you look very pretty today, Professor Dawson," the young man said with what Tony could only assume a cheeky grin.

"Flattery is not going to get you an _A_ on the paper that's due Friday, Mister Smith," Leah told him before going back into her lecture.

Tony chuckled as the three students in front of him went into obvious panic. He'd been there before. Trained so hard and partied so hard that assignments had been forgotten about. The three amigos, as Tony was now referring to them as, quickly got down to taking notes and not passing them back and forth.

Leah was now handing out a piece of paper. "Here's your rubric for your final project. You're doing this in partners or groups, so choose wisely."

 _Did she just make some kind of movie reference, pun?_ Tony thought cracking a grin. Of course the perhaps intended pun was lost on this generation of youngsters, but he rather appreciated it. When Leah dismissed the students and began to pack up her things, Tony slid out of his seat and made his way down towards her.

"I'm impressed-you didn't fall asleep," she teased him with a smile.

"Actually, I found you rather _entertaining,"_ he teased back.

"You were sitting with those frat boys for too long."

"Well, I did have to agree with them that your butt looks good in those pants."

Leah flashed him a mock glare while his cell phone rang.

Tony dug it out of his pocket with a chuckle and answered, "DiNozzo."

" _Hey! I found out something interesting on Mr. and Mrs. Evans,"_ Bishop's cheery voice replied back. " _Did you know that they've been having financial troubles since their daughter went missing four years ago? Apparently they blew all their money on private investigators they had hired to find her. And then he wanted me to forward all this information over to some guy at the Washington Bar Association. Do you have_ any _idea what's going on? This has nothing to do with Jennifer Evans' case. I checked. It's been closed."_

"Bishop, how much sugar have you ingested this morning?" Tony asked, rubbing his temple.

" _Hardly any, I'm just happy to be doing work and not at FLET-C for today."_

Tony chuckled. Alright, he didn't blame her for not having to attend FLET-C training. "Mr. and Mrs. Evans apparently are suing the family of Jennifer's killer for wrongful death. They're under the impression that the family knew he was violent and did nothing to prevent him from hurting people. The lawyer has implored some sketchy tactics to get me to testify on the Evans behalf."

Bishop made a clucking noise. " _Oh that explains the Washington bar getting involved."_

"Indeed it does," Tony replied. "Tell the boss I'll be back in about an hour."

" _Sure thing,"_ Bishop said before hanging up.

"Everything okay?" Leah asked when she noticed Tony putting his cell phone back into his pocket.

Tony nodded his head and offered to carry her bag for her. Together the pair left the lecture hall. He grabbed her hand as they walked, noticing the _Three Amigos_ hanging around outside frowned at them. Yes, he remembered that feeling all too well, the feeling of finding out that an incredibly hot professor was taken. He couldn't help the impish grin that formed on his face as they passed that he threw at the boys.

Leah noticed it and rolled her eyes at him. "You honestly think you're in competition with fraternity boys?"

"I'm a guy, Leah, every male is competition," Tony said as he pushed the door leading outside open.

"Alright, it's safe to say that you're not going to lose me to a fraternity boy."

"I hope I don't lose you at all."

She gave his hand a squeeze and smiled up at him. She didn't need to say it, Tony already knew it. She felt the same way and this made his heart flutter. It had only been three weeks and he already felt himself falling and falling hard. _God, how is that possible? Just a month ago I was lonely and depressed and not knowing what direction to take._

Looking into her eyes, Tony realized that it was possible to fall in love that quickly. But this was probably the fastest he had ever fallen and that in itself was a little bit terrifying.

* * *

"Mr. Ford," Gibbs greeted when he came into the conference room, "thanks for coming in."

"It wasn't a problem, Agent Gibbs," Al Ford said with a fake smile. "What can I do for you exactly?"

Gibbs shut the door behind him and sat down at the table across from the lawyer. "Were you aware that Mrs. Evans was in Washington yesterday morning?"

Ford shook his head. "No. Should I have been?"

"She assaulted a young woman outside of _Capital Coffeehouse._ "

"Really? Is the young woman pressing charges? Because if she is, I haven't been called in to consult on a criminal level."

Gibbs narrowed his eyes slightly. "No. She isn't pressing charges. The young woman was Agent DiNozzo's girlfriend. Now, you might think this is just a coincidence, but I have a rule about those and I don't believe in them."

Ford chuckled. "Well, believe it in because that's what we have here."

"Funny. Ms. Dawson said that Mrs. Evans specifically asked her to talk to Tony about testifying."

"She realizes, just like I do, that we need his testimony to win our case."

"Yes. I can see that. What I want to know is _how_ did Mrs. Evans know where to find Ms. Dawson?"

Ford's smile faded ever so slightly. It was almost like he could sense where this conversation was going. Before he could respond to Gibbs' question the door to the conference room opened and Tony stepped in, slamming it shut behind him. He went to lean against the door, a hard look in his eyes. Ford swallowed, anxiously. "Agent Gibbs, are you implying that I told Mrs. Evans where Ms. Dawson would be?"

Tony's green eyes flickered with anger. "You knew where her apartment was. You knew where to find Tim. Give us one good reason why we wouldn't think you gave up Leah's location _every_ morning around seven."

"Your P.I friend in Baltimore was very eager to offer up information. He said you had him dig up the dirt on my agents," Gibbs responded, his tone darkening.

"Doesn't _prove_ I was the one who told her where to find Ms. Dawson."

Tony clenched his jaw. "Debbie Evans called you, fifteen minutes after the attack happened."

Ford shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry. That conversation is privileged. I can't talk about it." He got up from the table and straightened his blazer. "Now, gentlemen if you'll excuse me, I have work that needs to get done and you're keeping me from it with these silly accusations."

Gibbs stood as well, glaring at the lawyer. "We don't think they're silly accusations. We've contacted the Washington bar. Don't be surprised if they investigate you."

"What for? I haven't done anything illegal."

"Just who do you think you are anyways? Cornering my girlfriend into trying to get a testimony? I guess I didn't make myself clear earlier that she was off limits huh?" Tony shouted, moving towards the lawyer slightly.

Ford didn't back down. "Agent DiNozzo, just for a moment try to imagine what it must be like for the Evans. Or, imagine that it was you going through this. What if the woman killed had been the woman you love? You'd want justice of some kind would you not? It is my job to make sure that the Evans get that kind of justice. I am not responsible for Debbie Evans actions where it concerns Ms. Dawson. She is an adult that acted on her own volition."

Gibbs had to stop DiNozzo from striking at the lawyer. He threw an arm out and pushed his agent back slightly. "If I were you, I would inform Mr. and Mrs. Evans that this is a civil suit and there fore, NCIS is not to be involved. And, to stay away from my agents, their loved ones, and me."

"Don't think you can tell me what to do, Agent Gibbs. Now, am I free to go?"

"Yeah," Gibbs replied throwing the door open. "An agent will escort you out. Make sure I don't see you again."

"But our meetings are so much fun, Agent Gibbs," Ford retorted, sarcastically before a probie whisked him away.

Gibbs slammed the door shut once again and glanced at a seething Tony. He smiled, slightly. "Have fun at school?"

Tony threw him a confused look at first, and then he managed a grin. "Oh yeah. Lots."

* * *

Vance was surprised when his friend at the Washington bar called him back so quickly. He hadn't really been expecting for them to be able to dig up anything, since Al Ford had been so good at covering his tracks, but he was intrigued to find out what he friend had to say. "Hey Charlie, got something for me?"

" _Actually. I think I do,"_ Charlie replied. " _I took the information that your agents forwarded to me. While Ford's tactics are...pushing it, he never actually crosses the line. But I did find something interesting. Five years ago he was on the defense team of Paul Rocco."_ _  
_

"Mob boss accused of murdering a business executive that embezzled funds from the mafia?" Vance recalled.

" _One and the same. Remember what happened to that trial?"_

Vance shook his head. "No, now that you mention, I don't recall even hearing a verdict in that case."

Charlie chuckled. " _That's because there wasn't a verdict, Leon. Every single witness in the case mysteriously forgot what they saw."_

"Son of a bitch," Vance cursed.

" _I spoke to an associate of Rocco's today. He's in prison not surprisingly, but we managed to cut a deal. Anyways, he told me that he was given the location of all the witness by a Howard Fitzgerald."_

"Ford's Baltimore P.I friend."

" _One and the same."_

Vance rubbed his temples for a moment. This was well out of NCIS' hands, he knew that, but he couldn't help but feel like all of this was somehow going to come back to bite them in the ass. "So, what happens now?"

Charlie cleared his throat and said, " _Ford is being removed from all current cases and being put under investigation. Thank your agents for bringing this to our attention."_

 _"_ Of course," Vance said before saying good-bye and hanging up. As he did so he got the impression he had just fanned the flames of the beginning of an inferno.


	15. Inferno

* * *

For the rest of the week everything went smoothly. There were no more sightings of Debbie Evans or Al Ford. Gibbs had released the so-called protection detail on both Leah and Delilah, and life, went back to normal. Well, as back to normal as they could get around NCIS. No one really was certain what normal was these days. They were just hoping that this case had finally gone away quietly and for good.

Tony, however, was still nervous that everything was about to blow up in their faces, but he had other problems right now. Mainly-Valentine's Day.

"You have to take her out for Valentine's Day!" Abby argued with him. "Do you want this relationship to last?"

"Abs," Tony started, "Leah and I both agreed that we don't need to go out for Valentine's Day."

"Well, you have to do something romantic!"

Tony rolled his eyes. "I didn't think everyone else was so invested in my love life. Listen, after everything that's happened in the last few weeks, I just want a quiet evening. You know a nice home cooked meal, some wine, a movie. Nothing fancy. She can come to my apartment dressed in her pajamas for all I care."

Abby looked at him surprised. "Your apartment? Since when do you allow women you're dating into your apartment?"

"I don't know," he said with a shrug. "Feels right now that I have the new bed."

"New bed?" she sputtered. "You got a new bed?"

"It was time."

Abby paused in her finger printing and stared at him. Jimmy had said that there was something different about Tony when he was with Leah. Since she had yet to meet the girlfriend, Abby only had his word to go on, but now hearing about the new bed, she was beginning to think that Jimmy was right. "Does McGee know this? Because he was all ready to call in the shrinks two months ago when you told him about your support group."

Tony chuckled and then looked at his watch. "Listen, I'd love to keep this conversation going but I have to go pick up Leah and then we're heading over to the rehab center to watch a movie with Tim and Delilah."

"Wait! You can't go yet! I have more questions!" Abby proclaimed as he left. "Tony!"

"Later, Abs," Tony said with a wave over his shoulder.

"Don't think you're getting off that easy! We'll be finishing this discussion tomorrow!"

Tony just smiled as he got into the elevator and pressed the button for the garage. He knew that tomorrow Abby would upstairs in the bullpen, swarming him with all her questions, but he didn't really care. He was rather looking forward to his quiet night, watching a movie with his partner, who had arguably been his best friend in the last few months. And then he was going to go back to Leah's apartment and spend the rest of the night with her, where he felt, anything could happen.

* * *

McGee looked up half-way through the movie and glanced across the bed at Tony.

Leah was sharing the chair with him and she had curled up against his chest and was fast asleep. He didn't seem bothered by this. In fact, his fingers were stroking her hair. Delilah, snuggled against his own shoulder, had commented earlier when the pair had gone to throw out the trash from their take-out dinner that the they were extremely cute.

He hadn't given that much thought. Truthfully there had not been a lot of time to give it a lot of thought.

Delilah suddenly elbowed him and he grunted. "See," she whispered, "So cute."

"Yeah," he mumbled, rubbing where she'd hit him. "Adorable."

"You wouldn't happen to be talking about me, would you, Probie?" Tony muttered, tossing him a grin.

McGee gave him a mock glare before going back to watching the movie. But he found that he couldn't focus on it anymore because there were so many thoughts running through his head. Thoughts about the observations he had made just that night about Tony's new relationship. It seemed like the SFA was fully embracing moving on in his life and changing. He had actually committed to something-well, two somethings if one wanted to count Leah.

Apparently Tony had taken his advice to heart and started to let go of Ziva. He hadn't asked for the photograph back that McGee had taken and hid in his desk. And, the other day he'd asked McGee to actually _delete_ the photos of Ziva in the bikini from his computer, without any sense of hesitation. McGee had shared that bit of surprising news with Palmer who'd talked about Tony on the double date. If McGee recalled correctly, Palmer had said that Tony seemed smitten with Leah. McGee had finally saw that tonight and he'd come to that conclusion just by the way Tony looked at her.

"Okay kids," the nurse said entering the room, "I've let you all stay up late enough."

"Aw," Tony said, flashing her a charming grin, "the movie isn't over yet."

"You can come back tomorrow and finish it," the nurse said, tossing a smile back at Tony. "Ms. Fielding needs her rest."

Tony frowned. "Oh, alright. Hey, darling," he said, rousing Leah. "Time to go."

Leah slowly opened her eyes and blinked rapidly. "What? Already? Didn't we just get here?"

"No. You took a ninety minute nap."

"Oh. Sorry."

"It's fine," Delilah said with a smile. "I think we all know what sleep deprivation can do to us."

Leah smiled, sleepily at her while Tony helped her into her coat. "It was nice meeting you. Hope I'm better company next time."

Tony grinned. "We'll back tomorrow to finish the movie."

"Bring Chinese," Delilah ordered.

"You got it," Tony said with a chuckle as he and Leah left.

McGee followed them and called out, "Hey Tony!"

Tony turned on his heel and raised his eyebrows in an expectant manner.

"Just wanted to...thank you...for coming by," McGee sighed.

"Anytime, Tim," Tony replied, smiling at him. "See you tomorrow."

McGee nodded, not knowing what was to come, and returned the smile. "Yeah. See you tomorrow."

* * *

By the time they arrived at Tony's apartment, snow was coming down in large fluffy flakes. It was rather romantic if he really thought about it. His street was abandoned, quiet. It was just the two of them.

Tony held onto her hand tightly while they walked, enjoying the warmth of it against his own. He didn't think anything could spoil this moment, that is until his cell rang and he was dismayed to see that it was Gibbs, because if he was calling this late that meant one thing and one thing only-they had a case. Sighing, he answered. "Hey, boss."

" _Figured you'd want to hear the news first hand-Washington bar removed Al Ford from all cases today,"_ Gibbs reported. _  
_

"Really? That was...well...that was fast," Tony admitted, letting go of Leah's hand and walking ahead of her.

" _Seems they were just as concerned as we were that people seem to get hurt when he's on the case,"_ Gibbs said.

He turned and looked at Leah, walking behind him. Tony stopped moving and took a deep breath. "Why don't I feel any better about all this, boss?"

Gibbs sighed, heavily. " _Just keep your eyes peeled."_

Tony heard a click in his ear and knew that his boss had hung up. Feeling a heavy weight settle on his chest he put his cell phone away and closed his eyes tightly. He felt something cold and wet hit him square in the face. Tony opened his eyes and glanced in Leah's direction. She was grinning from ear to ear. "Did you just declare war on me, Ms. Dawson?"

Leah continued to smile. "Maybe," she replied coyly, gathering more snow up into her hands and throwing it at him.

Tony ducked the incoming snowball and chased after her. She laughed when he caught up to her, scooping her up from behind and twirling her about. When he set her down, he turned her towards him, letting his eyes rest on her face. Her cheeks were rosy from the cold air and the snow was melting on her face as it fell around them.

She snaked her arms around his waist and smiled, softly. "Are you okay? You seem tense."

"Work. It really is going to be the death of me," he replied brushing the snow from her face.

"Don't say that, please," she whispered. "I know you meant it as a joke but it really isn't funny."

"You're right, that was a poor choice of words."

"Just about the worse choice ever."

Tony smiled, moved in to kiss her, until he heard the familiar sound of a gun cocking. He shoved Leah out of the way just as the two shots rang out, tearing into his right shoulder. The force of the blow sent him backwards, the heel of his shoe taking off on the slippery surface. He lost his balance completely, flailing about as his body impacted with the concrete. His injured shoulder hit the sidewalk first, sending a pain so sharp through his body that he hissed. His head smacked the street next, cold and hard and making the world in front of him blur.

Someone was shouting, loudly, but he couldn't make out the words. Several more shots, the shattering of glass, and then an eerie silence. His last thought, before everything faded away to black was, _Gibbs is going to kill me._


	16. Ruin

McGee heard the crack of a gun just before he rounded the corner. Drawing his own weapon, the NCIS agent crashed onto the scene, almost quite literally because he slipped on the icy sidewalk. _Would it kill the city to invest in some salt?_ He thought angrily as he managed to stay on two feet.

 _Timothy!_ He shouted to himself, _FOCUS!_

"NCIS, put the weapon down," he called out, pale green eyes darting about to take in the scene.

His partner laid on the ground, a steady stream of blood pooling underneath his right shoulder. Leah was sideways in a pile of trash bags and both were completely exposed, vulnerable. Although, it looked like the shooter was more interested in Tony than in the senior field agent's girlfriend. McGee applied the slightest pressure to the trigger. "Put the gun down!"

In the dim street lights he saw the shooter turn towards him and for the first time he could see that it was a woman. If Tony had not been on the ground, bleeding, McGee might have found some sick, twisted humor in all this that his partner was shot by an angry woman. But, there was no humor to be found, especially now that the shooter had her sights set on him. She raised her gun in a shaky hand, obviously not used to firing it and let a round of shots go.

They shattered a car windshield. McGee heard Leah cry out and saw her cover her head, while he pulled back on the trigger, taking down the suspect in one clean shot. Her body fell to the sidewalk in a slump, gun leaving her grasp. McGee, weapon still drawn, eased his way towards her. He kicked the gun away and then leaned down to check for a pulse. When he found none he holstered his SIG and turned towards Tony.

From here he could see the rise and fall of his partner's chest. It was very little comfort but at least McGee knew that he was alive.

"Leah," he said, softly as he checked Tony's pulse, "are you alright?"

"I think...I think so," she said, her voice choking. "Who...who did this?"

McGee gestured for her to come over. Leah struggled to get out of the pile of trash bags that had broken her fall, but she managed to do so and crawled towards the two agents. "Place pressure on the wound. I'm going to call for an ambulance."

Leah numbly nodded her head and positioned both her hands over Tony's shoulder. She pressed down on it as hard as she possibly could. While she did so she could hear McGee calmly speaking to the dispatcher that he needed an ambulance. Already sirens could be heard in the distance. No doubt the gunshots had been reported and called in, this was a quiet neighborhood after all. But she found that the peaceful quiet and McGee's demeanor were the exact opposite of what she was feeling. Someone had shot Tony, with no hesitation, no remorse, and then had tried to kill McGee. What if the shooter had been a better shot? _Oh my God, would they both be dead?_

"Ambulance is on its way. Shouldn't be too long," McGee broke through her thoughts. "You're doing great, Leah."

"University requires that we all have basic first aid training if we go on expeditions," Leah blurted out. "I...I've never really had to use it, well, unless you want to count that time when Dr. Howard fell and really cut up his knees. Nothing...nothing like this though."

McGee placed his hand on her shoulder. He could see the distress in her eyes. This was not something that she dealt with everyday. She didn't go to work where people were firing at her. "Just keep the pressure on until the paramedics get here, okay?"

Leah took a deep breath, even as the wailing sirens got closer. "O-okay."

"I'm going to try to rouse him," McGee said. "Knowing Tony he probably has a concussion and we want him awake."

"Does he...does he got those a lot?"

"Running joke at the office is he has a permanent dent on his skull."

McGee moved around Tony's prone form and shook his good shoulder. "DiNozzo. Wake up!"

Tony was unresponsive. McGee could feel his calm resolve slipping away. _Come on Tony! Don't do this! Wake up, damn it!_

"How long has he been out?" a deep voice asked.

McGee looked up to see that the paramedics had arrived. A female one was relieving Leah of her duties and the male was asking the agent questions while hooking Tony up to an I.V. "Ten minutes at the least."

The paramedic nodded and shook Tony hard. "Tony, my name's Mike. We're going to be buds for the next, oh say, twenty minutes. But I need you to wake up." When the fallen agent still didn't respond Tom shook him again. "Come on man, don't do this to me. This is a terrible way to start off a new friendship, don't you think?"

Slowly Tony's eyes opened but McGee could see that their green depths were registering nothing. The SFA groaned in pain. Mike encouraged him to stay him awake and then promised to give him something for the pain.

"Probie?" Tony questioned in a voice so soft that it was barely audible.

"Yeah," Tim said with a grin. "You're going to be fine, Tony. Paramedics are here to take you to the ER."

"Shoulder...hurts...," Tony ground out.

Mike and his partner were getting a board in place under him. "You took two rounds to it," Tom said. "It's gonna hurt like hell."

Tony turned his head slightly and looked at the two paramedics working on him. McGee watched as his eyes swept their faces and then as they fell on Leah, standing behind, blood on her hands, watching nervously. There was a confused expression in his eye and McGee felt his stomach do about a thousand flip flops. "Who...who shot me?" Tony asked, grinding his teeth to try and cover the fact he was hurting.

McGee glanced over his shoulder at the prone body of the female shooter. He hadn't even checked her identity yet. He'd been more concerned making sure that Tony and Leah were okay and got medical help. "That's not important right now."

"Probie...it really hurts," Tony said as he was strapped to the board and then placed on a gurney.

"Hey! Tony!" Mike shouted at him when he noticed the man falling back into unconsciousness. "Stay with me!"

But it was a losing battle. McGee could see it even before Tony's eyes closed. He heard Mike tell his partner what to radio into the hospital, that they had a gunshot victim with possible moderate to severe head injuries. McGee's stomach was really turning now. It had been hard losing Kate, it had been hard losing Ziva, and it had been hard to watch Delilah struggle through her own injuries. He just could not afford to lose Tony.

Tony had been the one constant through everything. He'd been there from the start. He had never left him, not even for a Mexican sabbatical. Truth was, Tony was the closet friend that McGee had. _God, why did it take me so long to realize this?_

"One of you riding with him?" Mike asked, propped up in the back of the ambulance.

"Leah, you go," McGee ordered. "I have to follow up with Metro and call Gibbs."

"Tim," her voice was so weak, it made his heart break, "He'll be okay right?"

McGee watched somberly as Mike helped Leah into the ambulance. She glanced at him fleetingly. "Yeah," he told her, firmly, "he doesn't have permission to die just yet."

* * *

Gibbs arrived at the hospital in record time-even for Gibbs.

He hadn't even bothered to go to the crime scene. He told McGee to hand all the evidence over to Balboa and to come to the hospital. It was more important that Tony had his team here, supporting him. Besides, Balboa was a capable agent and could lead this investigation while Gibbs was tied up elsewhere. Tony was a friend. He'd want the person responsible for doing this to end up in jail just as much as Gibbs.

Problem was the person that had actually done this was dead. By McGee's hand no less.

"Special Agent Gibbs," he said, flashing his badge to the nurse at the desk. "One of my agents was brought in, Anthony DiNozzo."

"Mr. DiNozzo is in surgery right now, Agent Gibbs. But you can wait over there with his wife."

 _Wife?_ Gibbs turned on his heel and saw Leah sitting on a couch. Her legs were drawn up to her chest and she was staring at the coffee table in front of her. Paramedics must have let her ride with Tony, thus the nurses mistakenly thinking she was married to Tony. He thanked the nurse and went to sit next to Leah.

She didn't register that she was no longer alone. Gibbs studied her for a moment. Blood had dried and caked underneath her fingernails, but her knuckles look raw from scrubbing her hands clean, perhaps trying to get all traces of Tony's blood off of them. Her make-up had run, it wasn't hard to tell she had been crying. Gibbs thought back to Abby years ago, when Tony had been sick, how she had cried after the case had finally been solved and it had been days before Tony could breathe easy again. The team had spent a lot of nights after that sitting in a hospital waiting room.

Gently he reached out and grabbed her hand. Leah startled slightly but relief washed through her eyes when she saw that he was there. "An agent is going to need your statement...when you're ready."

"Of course," she whispered. "Do you know who did it?"

"Mrs. Evans."

"How did she know where to find Tony?"

Gibbs swallowed the angry bile in his throat. He knew exactly _who_ was responsible for giving up Tony's location but he couldn't prove it, not with Debbie Evans dead. But McGee had been left with no choice. She was firing at him. Gibbs had taught his people that they shot to kill in those types of situations. "NCIS is looking into that."

Leah looked away, blinking back her tears. "He pushed me out of the way."

"Yeah...doesn't surprise me."

"If Tim...if Tim hadn't showed up...she would have killed us both."

Gibbs did not doubt that. He wasn't sure why McGee had been going to Tony's apartment that night, he was just grateful that he had been. Ziva's departure had been hard enough to handle. He didn't know if he could handle losing Tony as well.

* * *

"Hey, McGee," Phil Balboa's voice called to him as he walked briskly towards his car. "I think I found something interesting."

McGee stopped and turned on his heel, heading back towards the fellow agent. Balboa and his team had arrived ten minutes ago, they had been filled in on the current situation, and were taking over the case. He knew that he had to get to the hospital, but there was something in Balboa's voice that intrigued him. "What is it?"

Balboa's brow furrowed in deep thought. "When you told me that it was Debbie Evans that shot Tony I had one of my people look into her recent activity. She's been living in Washington for a while now. Only goes back to the house in West Virginia every couple of weeks. Sent a Metro team and one of my agents over to her hotel room. He just called me."

"And?"

"Mr. Evans was there."

"Yeah?"

Balboa gave a little shake of the head. "Wife attacked him when he showed up at her room. He wanted her to come home and just forget about this whole law suit. Now that Jennifer had been buried they could try to put their finances back together. He claims she went crazy then, claiming that NCIS-or more specifically Tony-ruined their lives. Shot him in the leg and then left the room in hysterics."

McGee felt his blood boiling. "She left the room in hysterics to come kill Tony and he didn't call the police?"

"He didn't think she knew where to find him that quickly... and his injuries prevented him from reaching the phone. He was surprised to learn what she had done," Balboa said with a shrug.

"Don't suppose he knew how she could have found out so fast, did he?"

"No," Balboa replied, "but he had some guesses. My agent's taking his statement."

McGee glanced at his watch. He really needed to get to the hospital. "Keep me posted?"

Balboa chuckled. "Do you really think I'm going to hide anything I find from El Jefe? You know how he gets when one of you is hurt or in trouble. I promised myself a long time ago that I wasn't going to get into his line of fire. I've had a clean record so far-I plan to keep it that way."

* * *

Hours always seemed to go by slower when you were sitting in the waiting room, waiting for news. Gibbs noticed how silent his team was while they sat there. Even Ducky was quiet.

There had only been one conversation with the doctor, after Tony got out of surgery. He had pulled through just fine, the bullets had left a good deal of tissue damage and torn ligaments, but nothing some physical therapy and desk work could not heal. It was Tony's head injuries that trouble his doctors. After he had been taken out of the OR he had been brought to get an MRI done.

So far they had not heard the results from that. Tony had been brought to a room in the ICU and only one person was allowed in his room at a time. They had all agreed that it should be Leah, although she had let them all have a turn at some point.

Gibbs had so far turned down her offer. He had heard how terrible Tony looked from the others and he just wasn't ready to face that yet.

"Agent Gibbs," someone said, grabbing his attention. He looked up to see Tony's doctor. "We got the MRI results back."

"Yes, what did they tell you?" the former marine asked, standing.

"Agent DiNozzo has suffered a skull fracture. Not a major one, hairline, but there is severe swelling in that area of the brain."

Ducky finally spoke. "What are you suggesting for treatment, Doctor Gardner?"

Gardner sighed and tucked a chart underneath his arm. "Induced coma, until the swelling goes down at least. Unfortunately until then we won't know the extent of the brain damage, if there is any. Agent DiNozzo could simply suffer from some memory loss or there could be more serious complications. Right now, on the suggestion of Doctor Pitt, I have him on a vent so he is getting plenty of oxygen, when we feel the time is right, we'll pull him from the coma and run more tests until then."

Gibbs ran a had over his face. "If there are no complications from his head injury will he be able to return to duty?"

"I don't see why not, Agent Gibbs," Gardner replied. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other patients to see."

"Thank you, Doctor," Ducky said as the younger man walked away. "So far, Anthony's prognosis sounds good."

"Wish I felt that optimistic, Duck," Gibbs whispered.

Ducky frowned. "Timothy said that Anthony was conscious for a while after the shooting and while he couldn't put many thoughts together, he did recognize his partner."

Gibbs heaved a large sigh. "But he didn't recognize his girlfriend. McGee mentioned that as well."

"Short term memory loss is to be expected."

"I'd hate for him to lose these past few weeks. That woman is the best damn thing that's happened to him in a long time."

"Yes," Ducky had to agree. "She is rather lovely. I wish I had met her under better circumstances."

Gibbs heard the elevator signal the arrival of someone. When he looked up he noticed that Abby and McGee stepped off. McGee was balancing a couple of cups of coffee in his hands. "Got one for you boss," he said with a smile, "I know it's not usually what you like but...well, it was all they had."

Abby frowned sadly at them. "Was there any word on Tony? I'm really starting to worry."

"Doctor said they're keeping him in a coma until the swelling in his brain goes down," Gibbs reported, taking his coffee from McGee.

"Leah still sitting with him? We brought her a candy bar," McGee said holding up a _Kit-Kat._

"Yeah. She's still sitting with him," Gibbs breathed.

"I'll go bring this to her."

"No. I'll go," Gibbs said, taking the candy bar. "It's about time I went and sat with Tony."

* * *

Nothing could have prepared him for the sight of his SFA hooked up to every machine, a tube down his throat, looking pale and like death. Gibbs stood at the edge of the room, clutching tightly to the candy bar and was involuntarily whisked away to that isolation chamber nine years ago.

Tony had looked just as horrible, barely able to breath. They couldn't put him on a vent because of the coughing fits. His lips were blue because of the lack of oxygen and at any moment he looked like he was going to die. And this time, instead of Kate Todd keeping watch over the senior field agent, it was Leah. The young woman was curled up in the chair next to the bed, her head resting at an odd angle, and Gibbs thought she had fallen asleep. So, he put the candy bar down on the nightstand next to her, and looked down at Tony, studying every inch of the SFA's face. _  
_

"Didn't think we'd be here, like this again, DiNozzo," Gibbs whispered. "At least there's no blue lights this time."

"Blue lights?" Leah mumbled, alerting Gibbs that she wasn't asleep after all.

"Long story."

"Gibbs...in case you weren't aware...I have all the time in the world right now. I'd like to hear it."


	17. Pay for His Actions

Gibbs swallowed hard. Leah was waiting patiently for him to begin speaking. This was still a painful topic to speak about, because it should have been _him_ that had been infected and not Tony. "Before I start, you have to understand, Tony was a different man nine years ago," Gibbs told her, sternly.

She smiled at him, exhaustion written all over her face. "We all were different people nine years ago."

He chuckled and listened to the sound of the respirator. It's gentle puffing noise eased his troubled mind somewhat. "Tony opened a letter, that was simply addressed to _NCIS Special Agent._ He stupidly thought it was for him because it was sealed with a kiss."

Leah gazed at him underneath tired, blue eyes. "Something was in the letter wasn't it? Some kind of airborne pathogen?"

" _Y pestis."_

"Plague?"

Gibbs nodded. "Pneumonic. Genetically altered strand of it too, so it was resistant to antibiotics."

Leah had studied the plague in her undergraduate years. She knew how devastating it had been during the Middle Ages, how quickly it could kill, especially in a time where there was no medicine for it. So, how the hell had Tony survived? " _Y pestis_ is extremely deadly, Gibbs. People who contracted it developed pneumonia and became cyanotic. It was a painful way to die. And the survival rate...the survival rate back in the Middle Ages was-"

"Fifteen percent."

"Yeah, that's...that's about right."

Gibbs glanced at Tony. He had felt so completely helpless watching Tony underneath those blue lights. Even though they had caught the person responsible for infecting him, there was nothing they could do for him. There was no cure. He had to fight the bug himself and survive on his own. Gibbs had been told the survival rate. He knew the odds were stacked against Tony but he had marched in there and given him a new cell phone. _You will not die._

Leah watched the emotions playing out in Gibbs' eyes. Tony had once mentioned that Gibbs was a well guarded soul. And that he had every right to be. She wasn't sure exactly why he was so guarded, but she could see now that even though Tony had survived and this had happened nine years ago, Gibbs was still deeply troubled by it. "It's amazing he survived."

"I didn't give him permission to die."

"Oh. So, that's what Tim meant when I got in the ambulance."

Gibbs chuckled. Ducky would say that he'd trained McGee well. "Speaking of Tim," he said, changing the subject, "he brought you something. I put it on the night stand."

Leah turned her gaze towards the _Kit-Kat._ She smiled, warmly and grabbed it, tearing it open and devouring it. She hadn't eaten in hours and she was pretty hungry. Before she hadn't been able to eat, not knowing if Tony was going to make it through the operation or not. Even though he had pulled through the surgery, there was still so much up in the air. Doctors couldn't tell her how much damage could be done to his brain. "Do you think people dream when they're in comas, Gibbs?"

He recalled the images that had flashed through his own brain when he'd been in a coma. Images of Shannon and Kelly. This made him wonder what Tony would see, if he saw anything at all. "People say they can hear us, so why not?"

"I don't want him to think he's alone," she said, her eyes lifting to his face, tears struggling to stay in.

"He knows he's not alone," he promised her.

"Do you think he's in pain?"

Gibbs looked at Tony's face. It was hard to see it underneath the tape and tubes, but the SFA didn't look to be in any kind of pain. "Right now he probably can't feel a thing."

Leah wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "I should have listened to him. He wanted me to press charges and I...I felt bad for that woman. I didn't want to cause her anymore pain. If I had...if I had just filed the charges maybe none of this would have happened."

"You can't blame yourself," Gibbs chided her. "There's no way you could have seen this coming."

"Tony did."

"Tony-is a very good agent. Years of experience. If he didn't see it coming I would have fired him."

She smiled and let the room fall into silence. Both of them sat there just listening to the machines and monitors that Tony was hooked up to do their jobs. At some point Gibbs glanced over at her to see that she had fallen asleep. Sighing, he got up and used an extra blanket that a nurse had dropped by and covered her with it.

He hated to think of what was going to happen to her if Tony didn't remember her. He thought back to Jenny, standing by his bed after they had woken him from his own coma, her relief in her eyes until he couldn't recall any of them. She had been in pain, the man she had feelings for didn't remember her. Leah was going to go through the same thing if Tony woke up in a similar fashion. Eventually Gibbs' memories had returned to him, with the help of Mike Franks, but there was no guarantee that Tony would ever regain his memories. The brain was a funny and tricky organ.

Softly he made his way back to his seat and sat down. Gibbs leveled his gaze on Tony. "Come DiNozzo, don't let this mess up the best damn thing that's happened to you."

* * *

"Agent DiNozzo is responding well to treatment," Doctor Gardner reported early the next afternoon. "I sent him for another MRI."

"Will Tony be able to come off the vent soon and wake up?" Abby asked, chewing her fingernails.

Gardner smiled, warmly. "As long as the swelling has gone down, it shouldn't be long now before we can start to pull him from the coma and take him off the ventilator."

Abby sighed in relief. She wasn't stupid. Tony was not out of the woods just yet, there were still concerns about brain damage, but he was still alive. At this point that was all that really mattered to her. They'd faced so many changes and challenges over the years as a team, as a family, they could face this.

"How long before we will know the results of the MRI?" Ducky asked. "If you hadn't noticed we are not a patient bunch."

"Shouldn't be too long now," Gardner said with a smile. "I'll let you know when Agent DiNozzo is back in his room."

Ducky reached out and gently pat Abby on the shoulder. It had been a trying night for all of them. They had all spent it in the waiting room, despite how uncomfortable it had been to sleep. By the time morning rolled around the team had trickled out. Gibbs had sent McGee home to shower and then to speak to Mr. Evans. Palmer had gone home to be with Breena, Bishop had to go to FLET-C for the day, and Ducky wasn't sure where the lead agent had disappeared too, but he was sure that it had something to do with solving the case.

Abby had stayed but promised to keep her cell phone on. She'd brought coffee and pastries for Leah, who had only briefly gone home to change and shower. Ducky knew that Tony would be pleased to see his new girlfriend getting along so well with the rest of the family. But he feared that when he did wake up he wouldn't remember her.

"Where did Gibbs go?" Abby finally asked, breaking the silence. "He didn't tell me he was leaving. I brought coffee for him."

"I am sure that our astute leader is off finding the one responsible for putting Tony in the hospital."

"But, I thought McGee shot her and killed her?"

Ducky took a deep breath. "It seems, Abigail, that there are a lot of factors that went into Anthony's shooting. It was just a ticking time bomb ready to explode, the moment Tony and Ziva went to West Virginia and informed the Evans that we had come to a dead end on our case."

Abby looked at her hands. "It's all so sad and senseless."

"Grief can drive people to do things that they normally would have considered vile," Ducky pointed out.

"It's strange how differently people react to grief. I mean...I thought Tony was going to go off the deep end when Ziva left," Abby confessed, with a shake of her head. "But he...he seemed to channel that grief into making himself better."

Ducky had to agree with her. He had been worried about Tony's state of mind when he returned from Israel, but besides the obvious questioning of his decisions for a few weeks, the younger man had channeled that pain and turned it into something good. It was no secret how much Tony felt for Ziva, it was just a secret how deep that relationship went or if that love was even reciprocated. Ducky concluded that was water under the bridge now. Tony was moving on with his life and it was about time that they all moved along with him.

* * *

Vance paced the length of his office and then back. In nearly thirty-six hours time everything had gone to hell. He knew that there was going to be backlash from getting Al Ford pulled from all his cases, but he had not thought it was going to come in such a violent way.

He had just finished reading over Mark Evans statement. The man basically described a woman that had broken down after the death of her child, lost all focus on what really mattered. Their marriage had fallen apart six months before Jennifer's body had been discovered. As much as he had tried, Mark couldn't save it. He had left after the funeral. Debbie had continued to find some kind of justice for their daughter. The law suit had been her idea.

When Mark had come to Washington to bring her home she had been irate that NCIS was solely responsible for getting her lawyer sacked. She was spouting off about her life being ruined by them and that they were going to pay, particularly Agent DiNozzo. Mark had tried to talk her down but she had shot him and then left.

Thirty minutes later DiNozzo had been shot twice outside of his apartment building.

Gibbs had put Balboa and his team on the case. Vance was impatiently waiting for any news but so far there had been nothing. He wanted the lawyer to fry for getting his agent shot. The man was lucky he wasn't looking at the murder of a federal agent. As it was, they probably had a case for negligence. He had to have known that Debbie just needed the right trigger to make her detonate.

His desk phone gave a shrill ring and Vance picked it up right away. "Vance."

" _Director,"_ Balboa's voice greeted on the end. " _Metro matched handwriting on notes that contained addresses to Tony's apartment to that of Debbie and Mark Evans' lawyer, Al Ford. I spoke to the District Attorney myself. We probably have enough of a case to charge him with attempted murder on DiNozzo."_

 _"_ Pick him up. I'll smooth out everything with legal," Vance said, slamming the phone down. It was time that Al Ford paid for his actions.

* * *

"Director Vance, I demand to know why I'm being held here," Ford shouted as Leon entered the small room.

"Sit down, Mr. Ford," the Director snapped. "I don't take kindly to my agents getting shot."

Ford frowned and shook his head. "I had nothing to do with Agent DiNozzo's shooting. I wasn't even in the city that night. After I informed Mrs. Evans that I was being removed from all active cases the lady went batty and I left. I never saw a gun and I certainly didn't tell her where to find DiNozzo."

Leon scowled at the lawyer. "Don't patronize me, Mr. Ford. We spoke to Mark Evans, took his statement. He went to see his wife that night at her hotel, begged her to drop the case and come home. She shot him in the leg before leaving and taking a cab to Agent DiNozzo's street, where she pulled a gun and put two rounds in his shoulder before turning on Agent McGee and firing at him. She's dead now, thanks to you. And as far as proof goes-my agents searched the hotel room with Metro-they found documents with your writing containing the addresses of Leah Dawson, Tony DiNozzo, Tim McGee _and_ the rehab center where Delilah Fielding is being treated."

"None of this will hold up in court!"

"Don't be so sure about that. Forensic specialists have already matched your handwriting to the notes. It's a ninety percent match."

For once, the lawyer was silent and didn't know what to say. Leon satisfied stood up and straightened his tie. He then proceeded towards the door, throwing it open. "If I were you, Mr. Ford," he said before leaving, "I'd get a lawyer."


	18. Fate

"I feel like there's so much I don't know about him."

"Tony can be loud and vocal but he's actually very private."

Leah thought about how hard it had been the first few days after they had met to get him to open up even the slightest bit to her. "He always seemed guarded to me. Now, I'm beginning to see why. I mean...this job...it's taken a lot out of him."

Abby ate her sandwich from the hospital cafe slowly, choosing her next words carefully. "He's been through a lot...in the last couple of years alone. And you're right, he is guarded, to a fault. He never let anyone in, even those he considered his friends. I'm not sure what exactly changed him-there are so many events I could point to that did-or perhaps it was a combination of all of them. Either way, Tony's different now."

"It's never too late for any of us to change, Abby," Leah said with a smile.

"Do you...do you love him? Because honestly, listening to Tim and Jimmy talk...I think he loves you," Abby blurted.

Leah tucked her hair behind her ear. She looked down at her own sandwich, barely eaten because she was still worried about Tony. She hadn't really given her feelings much thought because whenever she did, it scared her. Scared her, because, she had never really been in love before. Sure, there were times that she _thought_ she had been in love, but those had never worked out. Now? She was pretty sure she was falling in love and she wasn't sure what to do. "I...I haven't known him that long...I don't know...can you fall in love that fast?"

Abby smiled and took a sip of her soda. "Do you believe in fate?"

"Fate?"

"Uh-huh."

"Never really thought about it before."

"Well," Abby started, "I believe in fate. And it was _fate_ that Tony changed his coffee shop and you happened to be there."

Leah gave a little shake of her head. "The day I met him...that was the first day I ever went into _Capital Coffeehouse._ I was...I was late for work and it...it was the closet shop on the way."

Abby grinned from ear to ear. "See-fate."

"It sounds more like coincidence than fate."

"Rule thirty nine-there is no such thing as coincidence."

"There are _thirty nine_ rules?"

"Actually, there are over sixty."

Leah smiled slightly, the first one that Abby had seen her crack since they had been introduced. But as quickly as it passed her features it was gone and she was frowning again. "Abby, are there any rules for...the possibility that your boyfriend is going to...wake up and not...not remember you?"

Abby grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. "Don't worry. It's going to be fine. He's going to remember."

"Yeah? Why do you say that?"

"Because fate won't allow him to forget."

Leah wished that it was all as simple as Abby was making it out to be. But she knew it wasn't. Fate wasn't scientific, if the conditions were right, Tony could forget her and they would have lost what was happening between them. And this, made her heart break.

* * *

Tim tried to get into the movie that his girlfriend had picked but his mind kept wandering back to the night that Tony had brought pizza and _The Untouchables._ And that immediately flashed him forward to his partner forgetting the DVD and Tim going over to his apartment to return it. He shuddered thinking about what might have happened if he hadn't gone over.

"How's Tony?" Delilah asked. "Did the doctors try to wake him up yet?"

"Not yet. They were going to try tonight," Tim replied. He sighed and wrapped his arm tighter around her. "It's been a bad few days."

Delilah rested her head against his shoulder. She had been following the case on the news. It had been the story of the weekend, that an NCIS agent had been shot outside of his apartment and was now hospitalized in a coma. The media had twisted it into another mentally unstable person obtained a gun story and got what she deserved when she had been killed by another agent defending his partner.

Tim had not felt comfortable being labeled the hero. But he was. Such was the nature of the story. Tim just wanted to wipe away the memories of Tony bleeding on that sidewalk. "Sadly," he whispered, "this whole thing could have been prevented. If she had gotten help, if we had done our jobs four years ago."

"You did do your job. It's hard to do when there is no trail to follow."

"Delilah, I can't handle Tony not pulling through."

"You told me that doctors were optimistic."

Tim nodded his head. "Yes, they are. But they don't...they don't know the extent of brain damage...if there is any. He could wake up and be perfectly fine or he could wake up and...who knows...I just...I've had a fair share of change this year...I'm...I'm kind of done with it all."

Delilah pursed her lips together. "Stop being such a pessimist. I'm sure Tony is going to be fine."

He sighed and let it drop. She was in a good mood today and he didn't want to ruin that. Her days were roller coaster rides, mostly depending on how therapy sessions went. According to her nurses it went well today. And if he was honest her good mood was making him feel better, just not too optimistic that everything was going to work out with Tony. Delilah hadn't known him long enough but Tony never did anything the easy way.

* * *

Tony felt like he was floating. Caught between a state of consciousness and dreams. Voices were surrounding him. Some of them he could place, others he could not.

He was aware of a throbbing pain in his shoulder, the stiffness of his muscles. Like he had been laying here for days. He fought against his body's urge to wake up. He wanted to stay in the land of dreams. It was warm there. It was happy. People he had loved and lost could be with him. Tony was afraid to face what was in the world of consciousness. Call him a coward, but he'd been through enough. It was time for someone else to be the strong one, right?

"Agent DiNozzo," a deep voice coaxed him. "My name is Doctor Gardner. Can you open your eyes?"

Slowly, painfully, he obliged, letting his eyes lazily open and gaze at the middle aged man standing over him. Gardner smiled and nodded his head in encouragement. "That's very good, Agent DiNozzo. Welcome back. Now, can you squeeze the hand you're holding."

Tony suddenly was aware that someone's fingers were laced with his. Gently he gave it a squeeze but even that small movement caused him a great deal of pain. This must have been evident on his face because the doctor instructed the nurse to inject some morphine into his I.V. Immediately he was flooded with relief, however, he felt like he was floating again. Although this was a different kind of floating. Not between dreams and reality, but rather, like the bed had become a raft on the ocean.

It was a rather odd sensation because he knew he was not on the ocean, but at least his wasn't in pain anymore. He was about to let his eyes close again when the doctor flashed a small light in his eyes. He blinked, stunned and followed it's track. The doctor took the light away and smiled at him and said something, but they were just mumbled, jumbled words in his drugged up state. Tony figured he must have done something good.

"Okay, Agent DiNozzo," Gardner said. "We're going to take the tube out, alright?"

Tube? What tube? It was then that he became aware that there was a plastic airline tube down his throat. Instinctively he crawled at it, feeling like he was choking now that he was aware of the tube. Slowly the tube was pulled out and Tony began to cough violently. The nurse poured him a glass of water and gently cupped the back of his head, while bringing the glass to his lips. Tony couldn't recall the last time a cup of water had tasted so damn good.

In no time the glass of water was gone and the nursed eased him back on the pillows. Tony licked his dry lips. His throat still hurt from the tube but he managed to rasp out, "Where...where am I?"

"Portsmouth Naval Hospital," Gardner replied. "Do you remember getting shot, Agent DiNozzo?"

"N-no. Is...that bad?"

"Amnesia is not uncommon for head trauma patients. So, no, it's not startling that you do not remember."

Tony tried to take a deep breath but it made him cough again. The nurse leaned over and put a nasal canula into his nostrils, telling him that this was going to help breath easier. He wanted to say _thank you,_ but kept coughing. When the fit subsided, he looked squarely at the doctor. "My...team?"

Gardner nodded his head in understanding. "Your team is fine. You were the only one injured."

"Oh my God! Tony! You're awake!" Abby's excited voice startled him slightly, but he was prepared for her hug, even if it was painful.

"Hi...Abs," he managed to greet with a smile.

Abby beamed at him. "We were all so worried about you! If you hadn't hit your head I'd smack you on it right now. How many times do I have to tell you not to do that to me?"

Tony grinned at her. "S-sorry Abs...really...I am."

"How are you feeling?"

"G-great. Morphine pump."

"Now you know how I felt when you gave me that percocet," a voice said next to him.

Tony turned his head to finally look at the person holding onto his hand. He'd forgotten all about the contact once the painkiller had started to pump through his veins. It was what painkillers did to him. They made him loopy, incoherent at times, and...well...like he was floating on a raft. But the young woman sitting there was pretty-real pretty-and he felt, well, he that he should know her. _God, where do I know her from?_ She had to be important, she was in the ICU with him, holding his hand, but for the life of him he could not place her and it was frustrating.

She smiled at him and brushed his hair back and it only frustrated him more that he had no idea who she was. "Don't worry," she said,"it's going to come back to you. Just give it time."

"Anyone...anyone ever told you...your eyes...they're a...lovely shade of blue."

"You did on the day we met."

Tony studied her face for a moment. A single memory flashed before his eyes, of this pretty lady standing in line at a coffee shop. She had bumped into him accidentally. _Oh, sir, I'm sorry. Has anyone ever told you that you're eyes are a lovely shade of blue._ And then it faded, before he could even recall her name. "Why...why can't...I remember?" he threw the angry question at the doctor.

Gardner sighed. "Agent DiNozzo you've suffered a severe head trauma. Amnesia is not uncommon."

"But I should remember!"

"Tony. Just try to relax," the young woman coaxed him.

He felt his adrenaline rushing, coursing through his veins as his anger took hold. "Relax?" he shouted at her, "I don't know who you are! How can I relax!" Her eyes filled with tears. He could see her heart breaking in her gaze. Tony grew more frustrated and ripped his hand out of hers. "I should know who you are! Why don't I know who you are!"

Gardner nodded towards the nurse and she injected something into Tony's I.V. "Agent DiNozzo, we're giving a mild sedative to help you sleep, alright. Your memories will return to you in time, but you need to rest in order to heal."

Tony went to sleep with the image of that young woman's face in tears.


	19. A Pair of Pretty Blue Eyes

_Capital Coffeehouse was just like most coffee shops in Washington. There was still the usual crowd of government workers, college students crowding the tables with their laptops and books. Tony shoved his hands into his pockets and got into the long line. It was a cold, raw day, and his fingers were numb. The skies were gray, promising that a heavy rainstorm was going to grace the streets of Washington at some point during the day. This thought soured Tony's disposition even more._

_He was trying since coming back from Israel but it wasn't easy. He felt disconnected from everyone around him, even his friends. He couldn't even go to his old coffee shop anymore without feeling sad. It just reminded him of Ziva too much._ _As the line moved he caught a flash of purple and realized that the young woman standing in front of him was sporting a purple umbrella._

_"Quite the color umbrella you've got there," he stated, with a smile. When she turned to grin at him, shyly, he realized that she had quite the shade of blue eyes._

_"I figured it would bring some color on a drab, rainy day," she replied. "Everything is so dreary, isn't it nice to see a splash of color?"_

_Tony couldn't stop the smile that graced his features. "Anyone ever tell you that your eyes are a lovely shade of blue?"_

_She grinned, coyly. "Only all the fraternity brothers taking my classes."_

_"You're a professor? You're too pretty to be a professor."_

_"What are professor supposed to look like?"_

_Tony grinned, tossing her his best charming smile. "Elbow pads and glasses." He studied her for a moment. She was sharply dressed in what he assumed was a designer black suit, a ruffled white blouse, and classic black patent leather pumps. A simple black satchel was draped over her shoulder. She had long light brown hair that was tied back into a French braid and her face had a simple beauty to it. But it was those eyes, how blue they were, how warm and friendly they were that just drew him in._

_She paid for her latte and stepped out of the line, going towards the cream and sugar. Tony didn't have to wait long for his coffee. He had been coming in for a week. Cori, the barista knew his order. He paid and followed the young woman. "So," he said, "do you come here every morning?"_

_"No, but I'm late for an eight o'clock lecture. Closest place to campus. Do you?"_

_"Just started to this week. Been looking for a good reason to keep at it."_

_"And did you find one?"_

_Tony smiled. "Well that depends. Are you going to be here tomorrow morning?"_

_She didn't miss a beat. "Only if you will."_

_"Oh, I definitely will be here, Miss..."_

"Leah..."

Tim looked up from his book to see Tony stirring. He was sure he had heard the SFA whisper something, but it had been hard to make out. Closing the book up, he put it down and leaned in closer. He could tell that Tony was mumbling something but he just couldn't make out the words.

Tony's fingers curled tightly around the blankets, grasping them in a stronghold. It was the first movement that Tim had noticed since sitting down with his partner. Tony had been sedated for about seven hours. In that time the doctors had run another MRI and showed that the swelling was completely gone and his fracture was healing. Now it was just a matter of waiting for his memories to return-if they ever did. Tim gently reached out and put a hand on his good shoulder. "Tony?"

Green eyes slowly fluttered open, looking at Tim underneath heavy lids. "Probie?"

"Hey. Nice to see you awake. How do you feel?"

"Shoulder...hurts."

"Morphine pump, DiNozzo. Use it."

Tony pretended to oblige before speaking again. "Abby...leave?"

Tim nodded. "She was on her seventh Caf-Pow. Gibbs sent her home."

Something was missing, Tony closed his eyes tightly. He saw the doctor and the nurse, Abby, and there was someone else. She had been holding his hand. She was smiling at him. She had really pretty eyes. __Anyone ever told you that your eyes are a lovely shade of blue?__ Suddenly his eyes popped open and he glanced at Tim. "McGee..what...what happened to...to Leah?"

"You remember?"

"I...I remember gunshots... shouting... her being with me."

"She's fine. You got her out of the way before she could get hurt."

Tony felt relief wash through him. She was okay. She hadn't been hurt. _But then where is she?_ "McGee...where...where is she?"

Tim looked away anxiously. "Um, well. I haven't seen her since I got here a few hours ago. She...she might have gone home."

"Might...you...you don't know...where she is do you?"

"At the current time...no," Tim replied. He saw the worried look flash through Tony's eyes. "Don't worry, Gibbs is looking for her."

Tony suddenly was hit with a rapid fire of memories. His frustration at not remembering her when he woke up the first time, being sedated, and Leah's tears as he fell asleep. _Oh God!_

Tim heard the heart monitor pick up speed, signaling that Tony's heart rate was going up. "Tony...it's going to be fine," he promised his partner. "Just...just calm down."

"Calm down?" Tony snapped at him, struggling to get out of the bed. "I forgot my girlfriend!"

"You hit your head on a sidewalk," Tim argued with him, levelly. "It was injury induced. Didn't happen on purpose. She gets that."

"If she gets that why isn't she here?"

Tim winced. _Okay, so he has a point._ He applied stronger pressure on Tony's shoulder, forcing him to stay down in the bed. Normally his partner would be able to fight him off but his injuries had weakened him significantly. "Do you want me to text Gibbs? Let him know that you want to see her?"

Tony let out a heavy, frustrated sigh. "Don't...I don't want to screw it up, Tim."

"You haven't, Tony. I'm letting Gibbs know you want to see her-he'll tell her when he finds her. Now, calm down."

"I just...I have to tell her..."

"You have to calm down or they're going to sedate you again. Take a deep breath."

Tony did as he was told. He did not want to be sedated again. It seemed to help. For now anyways. He watched as Tim took out his phone and sent a quick text message to Gibbs.

Tim put the phone away and gently grasped Tony's shoulder. "There okay. Gibbs _is_ going to find her and let her know you want to see her. Just, please, relax."

"O-okay. I'm...I'm relaxing."

"Good."

"Why are you here, Tim? Shouldn't you be with Delilah?"

Tim shook his head. "I went and watched some television with her last night. She's doing well. They fitted her for a wheelchair and she'll be going home soon. Her apartment is almost ready. She told me to come sit with you for a while. I think she hates the idea of you being alone or something."

Tony offered up a small smile. "She's a keeper, Timmy."

"Yeah," Tim said with a smile himself, "I know."

* * *

Gibbs pushed the door to the stairwell open and stepped inside. Letting the door swing shut he listened for a moment. Abby had called him in a panic close to seven hours ago. Tony had woken up and like Gibbs had feared did not remember Leah. According to Abby the young woman had handled the situation well-it was his SFA that had been more upset that he couldn't remember her.

After the doctors had sedated Tony, Leah had disappeared, in tears. Abby had searched the entire hospital and didn't find her. She was ready to call security because it had been hours since anyone had seen or heard from her. Gibbs had talked Abby down when he arrived an hour later, sent the upset woman home to rest, and set off on his own to find Leah. It actually didn't take him that long, going on things that Jenny had told him when he had forgotten her. _I just needed a place to shut the world out, Jethro. Because it hurt that you didn't remember me and I couldn't be mad at you. It wasn't your fault. So I...disappeared for as long as I could._

"Hey, Abby's worried about you," Gibbs said, making his way down the steps. He rounded the corner and found Leah, hiding underneath the stairs, curled up against the wall.

"I needed a quiet place to think," Leah mumbled. Her face was resting in her knees which were pulled up to her chest. "No one uses the stairs anymore. It seemed like the perfect place."

Gibbs slid down and sat next to her. "I spoke to Doctor Gardner. It's not uncommon for head trauma patients to have memory lapses."

Leah looked at him. Her nose was red, her eyes swollen, and Gibbs was sure that if Tony _did_ remember he'd be kicking himself for making her cry. "Agent Gibbs, I'm not stupid. I have a PH.D remember?"

"Never said you were stupid."

"Listen if this is some kind of pep talk-don't take this the wrong way-you really suck at this."

Gibbs chuckled. He was sure Tony had said those words to him at some point. No wonder his senior field agent got along so well with this woman. She had the same sarcastic bite when she was upset. He reached out and gently pushed her hair back behind her shoulder. "DiNozzo is aware that he should recognize you, but his frustration stems from that he _can't._ Give him some time. He will remember."

Leah wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Are you a neurologist now, Gibbs?"

"Not trying to be. I just know Tony."

"You've known Tony for thirteen years, Gibbs. I've known him for _three_ months. You do the math."

Gibbs wasn't surprised that she was reminding him of an angry ex-wife. He continued to push her hair back in a comforting way. "Oh, well, I guess three months is enough time for someone to make an impression, because Tony's awake again, and he's asking for you-by name."

* * *

Leah paused outside of Tony's room. Through the glass door she could see Tony struggling to stay awake in the bed, Tim was seated next to him, reading a book. She wasn't surprised to find that the television was on and Tony was trying to watch ESPN.

Behind her Gibbs placed a hand on her shoulder and gently, silently prodded her to open the door. She reached out with a shaky hand and slid the door open. The noise caught both the attention of Tony and Tim, who turned in her direction. Tony's face brightened when he saw her and his eyes opened fully, no longer struggling with sleep. He tried to sit up but the movement must have been painful because he sucked in a sharp breath with a hiss.

"Here," Leah said, nervously, rushing into the room. She pushed the button to help the bed rise a little more. "Does that help?"

"Yeah," Tony whispered, working through the pain.

"Nurses gave you control of the morphine pump. You should use it."

"Don't want...don't want anymore painkillers."

Leah frowned at him and moved around the bed. She found the morphine pump underneath the blankets and pressed it, giving him more of the drugs.

Tony's eyes went wide for a moment. "Hey...you can't...you can't do that."

"I just did."

"Boss..."

"Oh no. I'm not getting involved. Let's go McGee. Give them some privacy."

McGee gathered up his book and followed the marine out of the room, shutting the door behind him. He grinned in Tony's direction before he disappeared from the senior field agent's sight. Leah occupied his chair and sat down. She went to grab for his hand, but hesitated.

Tony didn't hesitate. He grabbed and grasped it tightly. "I...I'm sorry."

Leah looked down at their entwined fingers. "Sorry for what?"

"For...forgetting you."

"It's okay."

"No...no it's not."

"No...it really is."

"Stop arguing with me, Leah. Let me apologize, damnit!" Tony snapped at her, pulling her towards him and kissing her. He pulled back from their kiss and pulled on her arm harder, signaling that he wanted her to get onto the bed with him. She took the hint and carefully crawled over him and snuggled up against his good shoulder. He let his eyes sweep over her face and she smiled at him, gently. With one more kiss, he watched as she drifted off to sleep. In no time he did the same.


	20. The Unspoken Rule

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the final chapter folks! Hope you have enjoyed the story!

Tony took the steps up to Leah's apartment two at a time. It caused some discomfort but his shoulder was healing nicely. He didn't need the sling anymore and he had been allowed to go back to work.

He reached out and knocked on her door. This was their first date since he had been released from the hospital. She had spent a great deal of time at his apartment, taking care of him when he came home and he had to admit it was a nice change from Gibbs hovering over him, making sure he rested. He felt like he owed her and told her that once he was out of the sling, he was going to take her out to a fancy restaurant and wine and dine her. She had told him it wasn't necessary but his tenaciousness had won out and she eventually agreed.

When she opened the door he was not prepared for her to take his breath away like she did. Tony recalled that Kate had once said every woman had a little black dress. But, dear god, as he saw Leah standing there in a sleek, sexy strapless black dress, her long hair curled and tumbling over her shoulders, she shed a _whole_ new light on the subject.

"You look...you look amazing," Tony stuttered.

"Do you like it?" she asked, coyly, twirling to allow him to see all of her in the dress.

Tony stepped into the apartment and grabbed her by the waist, bringing his lips to hers in a hungry kiss. When he pulled back he gave her a charming smile. "What do you think?"

Leah laughed, playfully and started to pull away. "We should get going, we don't want to miss our reservations."

"Okay," he drawled. "But first...open this."

"What's this for?"

"Happy belated Valentine's Day," Tony told her, placing a black, velvet box in her hand. "Open it."

"I thought we said no gifts."

"Leah...just open it, please."

She opened the box slowly and grinned when she saw what was inside. Resting on the satin inside was an umbrella charm, the top of it was accented with small, amethyst stones, and hanging off of a silver bangle. "It's adorable. I love it!"

He took the bracelet out of the box and slipped it on her wrist. "It was your purple umbrella that caught my attention," Tony said, smiling at her. "If it weren't for that I'm not sure I would have noticed you."

Leah returned his smile. "Then I guess I'm glad I bought it."

Tony put the box down and reached for her. "Who knew that it was going to change your life?"

"Did it change my life?" she asked, cheekily while snuggling into his embrace.

"Of course it did," he replied, grinning, "You met a dashingly good looking federal agent who has completely swept you off your feet."

"Really? Swept off my feet, huh?"

"Maybe I'm the one that got swept off my feet."

Leah smiled, sweetly at him. "For a while I didn't think you were ever going to even pick up the phone and call me."

Tony sighed and stroked her arms. "Broken heart."

"Are you ever going to tell me about the woman that did break your heart?"

"Lots of women have broken my heart," Tony deflected, smiling at her. "Where should I start?"

She looked at him incredulously. They both knew _who_ she was talking about. Ziva. He was going to have to talk about his partner eventually, and Leah knew that it would best for their relationship if it was sooner rather than later.

Tony took a deep breath. "I thought I would be enough for her."

"But..."

"But I wasn't. It took me four months to track her down," Tony confessed. "I fought like hell for her."

Leah could see the pain in his eyes. She felt terrible now for even bringing it up. "And it still wasn't enough."

Tony shook his head. "No. She had just been through too much, lost too much. We had come to two different roads in our lives that no longer ran alongside one another. Leaving her...leaving her in Israel really...messed with my head. I felt responsible, like I hadn't done enough to keep her here. When I got back…I felt…alone. So, I started going to the support group—I changed my coffee shop to chat up people that didn't know my face. Some of it helped. But I couldn't shake the feeling of being alone. And then…then I saw everyone around me building relationships. McGee, Jimmy—Ellie—they all have someone and were happy. I wanted that, Leah, I wanted that so badly…I just didn't know how to go out and get it. Ziva...I thought when I went to Israel I was going to get what had been missing in my life and instead...I got...I got my heart broken."

Leah swallowed back her tears. "Letting go of someone we love who doesn't love us back is the hardest thing anyone has to do."

"You love and lose," Tony mused, reaching out and brushing stray pieces of hair from her eyes. "And love again."

"Poetic."

"Yes, I thought so too."

"So, Mr. Poet, are we going to dinner?"

Tony grinned and kissed her on the cheek. "Yes, my darling we are."

* * *

Just three weeks after Delilah had been injured in Parsa's last attack, she was allowed to go home. Tim had made sure that her fridge was stocked and that everything was in her reach. Contractors were coming to lower her cabinets in the coming weeks, but it had been more important to get her bathroom handicap accessible before that.

After being away from her apartment for so long, once she got home all she had wanted to do was just lounge on her sofa with her favorite throw blanket. Tim had helped her get on the couch, found her blanket and then was on his way to make lunch.

Until there was a knock at the door. He was puzzled because Deliah's parents were not supposed to come to visit until the weekend.

"Open up McGoo!" Tony's voice crowed from the other side of the door. "I know you're in there! I saw your car outside!"

"Tony?" Tim shouted as he went to open the door. "What are you doing here?"

"We brought lunch!" Leah said, holding up a bag of take out food. "Oh! And cake! From that bakery Delilah loves in Georgetown."

Tim let them into the apartment. It was Sunday and he felt bad that they had taken their day together to come here. "You guys really didn't have to bring lunch. I was just about to make sandwiches."

Tony frowned at his partner. "Come on, doesn't Lo-Mein sound better than a sandwich?"

"It sounds better to me!" Delilah yelled from the living room.

"Fine. But let me give you some money," Tim argued with Tony.

"McGee? Seriously? No. We wanted to do something nice for you."

"Yeah. You did kind of save our lives," Leah said with a nod of her head.

Tim shook his. "Just doing my job."

Tony mock glared at him. "Tim. Accept the Chinese food. Besides, we never did finish watching _The Untouchables."_

With a sigh, Tim watched as Leah served out the food and then carried two plates out to the living room. Tony did the same and Tim was forced to follow. Once in the living room he sat down on the easy chair across from Tony, Leah was sitting with Delilah on the sofa, who had managed to pull her body into a sitting position to make room. Tim had to admit the Chinese food was much better than a sandwich. And yes, it was probably what both Tim and Delilah needed at the moment, a distraction. But he was still curious as to why Tony and Leah were here. He would have thought they would much rather have spent the day just the two of them hanging out at Tony's apartment...

"Hey Tony," he said, breaking the silence while Tony put the movie in the DVD player.

"Yeah?" he replied, looking up.

"Thanks for bringing the food and movie, but...why did you come? I mean...how did you know we needed this?"

Tony grinned and then glanced at the two women on the sofa. "You do what you have to for family."


End file.
